If you don’t think networking matters in the real world, then don’t tell anyone you are good at things.
You can say no and be transparent with your time management. People will not get angry about the reality of time being zero sum.
> People will not get angry about the reality of time being zero sum
My personal experience has shown otherwise. If people perceive you as standing between them and doing their job, they're gonna get angry. Of course, people shouldn't equate "not being willing to do their job for them" with "not letting them get their job done." But it happens.
That's why it's all the more important to be transparent with management about these things. Otherwise, your manager may not be able to protect you if someone tries to stir up drama after you refuse to do their job for them.
(All this is to say, I really agree with your conclusion. I just want to point out that people can and do get snippy about the reality of time being zero sum.)
Skill at Excel doesn't always translate well to navigating social and corporate hierarchies well. By showing your Excel skills, you induce demand, often from other team members who are deliberately bad at Excel and who will spend their time on higher-visibility activities and tasks that win them more attention. And you'll be their mule.
It’s a win-win to get leadership involved because then people who are in charge of your pay start using your name more.
Let’s say you are a beginner programmer and good with excel. If you are now doing a lot of excel jobs (and your manager agrees that you should do it) then you progress at excel and less at programming. So your buddies might get promoted to senior programmers while you stay the underpaid excel guy.
You should make sure that you get extra education to catch-up if people ask you to spend time on dead ends.
If you leverage your position as a point person well, you can find a lot of collaboration opportunities and expand your knowledge-base quite efficiently.
It’s one of those warning signs about an organization. When you’re collaborating with fellow engineers, it’s a completely different dynamic.
Demand favors in return. You only turn into the lowly Excel donkey if you let people milk the cow for free.
I have some high level expertise in an obscure system that has a problem once in awhile. The owners know that I will help them, but that someday I will also need a favor in return. It keeps everybody honest.
If they don’t have anything you want, say no.
You _can_ try to get favors back, but becoming a go-to for Excel means you'll spend more time on that skill and less on others, like software development. If you want favors, be a go-to; if you want to get better skills, don't advertise other skills.
Well, that's if someone wants to be the resident Excel guru. Doing so might not fit into one's goals, or might be misaligned with someone's general job responsibilities.
But, more importantly, the implication in the article is that people who are asking for Excel help are looking for handholding; and not everyone wants to handhold as part of their day-to-day job.