Most leaders think of Microsoft Excel as a spreadsheet program for data analysis; very few think of it as a canvas for an animated Christmas tree with flashing lights that can shift the mood of an entire team meeting.
Yet that is exactly what this simple Excel trick does: it turns an ordinary holiday spreadsheet into a small act of cultural design—one that quietly reminds your people that work can be both productive and playful.
When your spreadsheet becomes culture, not just calculation
In the final stretch before the holidays, you know the feeling: people are technically online, but mentally halfway to vacation. Out-of-office messages multiply, focus fragments, and yet the expectation to "stay productive" still lingers.
What if, instead of forcing more output, you used the tools you already have—like Excel—to create a moment of connection?
Using nothing more than:
- Cell formatting (column width, row height, fill color, cell alignment)
- A simple function formula:
=RANDBETWEEN(1,3) - Conditional Formatting with Icon Sets
- A tap of the F9 key to refresh
you can turn a basic spreadsheet into a pixel-style, pyramid-shaped Christmas tree, complete with flashing lights in green and yellow over a brown trunk and a colored pot.
This is more than a cute Excel tutorial. It is a signal—to your immediate team and your wider organization—about how you think about office productivity, creativity, and human energy.
The strategic insight hidden in a festive spreadsheet
On the surface, this Excel trick is delightfully simple:
- You adjust your column width to 50 pixels and row height to 90 pixels to create square "pixels."
- You apply
=RANDBETWEEN(1,3)in a single cell, then copy and paste it across a pyramid shape of cells using standard shortcuts like Cmd + C / Ctrl + C and Cmd + V / Ctrl + V. - You set up Conditional Formatting with Icon Sets, tie each icon to a numeric value (1, 2, 3), hide the numbers, and use center alignment to place the icons precisely in each cell.
- You add a simple base—a few green cells for the tree, brown cells for the trunk, and a colored pot to complete the design.
- Finally, you repeatedly press or hold F9 so the Excel functions recalculate, causing your digital tree lights to "twinkle."
It looks like spreadsheet magic, but it reveals three deeper, shareable concepts.
1. Creativity is a feature of tools you already own
Most organizations chase innovation through new platforms and expensive SaaS solutions. Yet this tiny holiday decorations project shows how much untapped potential remains in tools your teams already know—like Excel.
If a standard Microsoft Excel workbook can become a dynamic, animated Christmas tree, what else could your teams build with:
- Conditional formatting beyond simple red-amber-green status flags
- Interactive cell formatting to make dashboards more intuitive
- Lightweight simulations using random number Excel functions like
RANDBETWEEN
The question for leaders is not, "Do we have the right software?" but rather, "Are we using our existing tools imaginatively enough?"
2. Micro-moments of delight can boost macro-level performance
The gift-giving season is an emotional period: people are tired, reflective, and often juggling personal and professional demands. A playful festive spreadsheet can seem trivial, but it can also:
- Break meeting monotony—with a live animated Christmas tree as a backdrop to agenda items
- Lower tension in year-end reviews or planning sessions
- Offer a shared ritual (pressing F9 together to refresh the flashing lights) that reconnects distributed or hybrid teams
In other words, something as small as a twinkling tree inside a spreadsheet can soften the edges of "Scrooge-like" attitudes and make work feel more merry and bright—without sacrificing substance.
3. Low-risk play builds high-value digital fluency
This sort of Excel tutorial is a safe sandbox.
Employees who would never volunteer for "advanced Excel training" will happily follow steps to build a holiday spreadsheet if it results in a playful tree on screen. Along the way, they quietly develop:
- Comfort with Conditional Formatting and Icon Sets
- Understanding of random function formulas like
=RANDBETWEEN(1,3) - Skills in layout and cell alignment, click and drag selection, and highlight behaviors
- Awareness of how refresh and recalculation work in Excel
The organization gains something subtle but strategic: a workforce with higher digital confidence, developed through lightweight, seasonal projects that feel like fun rather than training.
For teams looking to systematize their creative automation workflows, comprehensive automation frameworks provide the foundation for building more sophisticated, intelligent processes that can enhance both productivity and team engagement.
What this says about your leadership
When you, as a leader, share a tiny Excel trick like this—especially framed as an optional, playful challenge—you are not just asking your team to "deck the halls" of a workbook.
You are communicating that:
- Creativity is welcome, even in operational tools.
- Learning can happen sideways, not just top-down.
- Culture can be designed in pixels and formulas, not only in policies and slide decks.
In a world obsessed with big digital transformation programs, this holiday spreadsheet reminds us that transformation often starts with small experiments—like turning a data grid into Christmas magic.
For organizations implementing more sophisticated automation systems, tools like n8n excel at creating flexible workflow automation that can scale from simple spreadsheet tricks to complex business processes. Similarly, Zoho Flow provides robust orchestration capabilities for managing complex automation workflows across different platforms.
Understanding how to scale AI agents in real-world environments becomes crucial when building systems that can adapt and evolve based on team dynamics and organizational needs, moving beyond simple Excel tricks to intelligent automation that enhances both productivity and workplace culture.
As automation operations become more sophisticated, implementing comprehensive internal controls frameworks ensures that automated processes maintain quality standards while scaling efficiently across the organization.
The next time you open Microsoft Excel, the question is no longer just, "What numbers do we need to analyze?"
It might also be: "What could we build here that makes our work feel a little more human, a little less mechanical—and just festive enough to be worth sharing?"
How do I build the animated Christmas tree in Excel?
Create square "pixels" by setting column width (~50px) and row height (~90px). Lay out a pyramid of cells, put =RANDBETWEEN(1,3) in one cell and copy it across the pyramid, then apply Conditional Formatting → Icon Sets mapping 1/2/3 to the light icons and colors. Hide the numbers (font color or custom number format), center-align icons, add brown trunk and a colored pot, and press or hold F9 to recalculate and make the lights twinkle.
Which Excel features does this trick use?
Cell formatting (column width, row height, fill color, alignment), the volatile function =RANDBETWEEN(), Conditional Formatting with Icon Sets, copy/paste shortcuts, and the F9 key to force recalculation.
Why does pressing F9 make the lights "twinkle"?
F9 forces Excel to recalculate formulas. Because =RANDBETWEEN() returns a new random value on each recalculation, the icon set mapping changes and the icons appear to flash or twinkle.
Is this just a gimmick or does it offer any business value?
Beyond being playful, it creates micro-moments of delight that break meeting monotony, lower tension, and build shared rituals. It also serves as a low-risk way to increase digital fluency and signals that creativity is welcome in everyday tools.
How does a holiday spreadsheet help people learn Excel?
It introduces Conditional Formatting, Icon Sets, random functions, layout and alignment, selection techniques, and workbook recalculation in a fun, low-pressure context—so people build useful skills while playing rather than formal training.
Can teams use this in remote or hybrid meetings?
Yes. Share your screen and use the tree as a light-hearted backdrop or ritual (e.g., everyone hits F9 together). It can help reconnect distributed teams and soften end-of-year meetings, provided participation is optional and inclusive.
Can I adapt the idea for other themes or dashboards?
Absolutely. The same techniques can create seasonal art, gamified dashboards, visual status maps, or lightweight simulations. Conditional formatting and icon sets can be repurposed to make dashboards more intuitive and engaging. Comprehensive automation frameworks can help systematize these creative approaches for building more sophisticated, intelligent dashboard systems.
Are there compatibility or accessibility concerns?
Icon sets and some Conditional Formatting behaviors vary between Excel for desktop and Excel Online; test in your environment. Avoid fast flashing that could trigger photosensitive reactions and provide alternative content or a static version for accessibility. Also ensure shared workbooks don't interfere with important meeting content.
How do I hide the underlying numbers used by Icon Sets?
You can hide numbers by matching the cell font color to the cell fill color or by using a custom number format like ;;; (three semicolons) to display nothing while keeping the values for Conditional Formatting.
Can this be automated or scaled into wider workflows?
Yes—simple triggers, refresh actions, or exporting results can be integrated into automation platforms like n8n or Zoho Flow. When scaling playful experiments into production workflows, implement comprehensive internal controls frameworks and governance so automation remains reliable and secure. Understanding how to scale AI agents in real-world environments becomes crucial when building systems that can adapt and evolve based on team dynamics and organizational needs.
What are best practices for leaders who want to share this with their teams?
Make participation optional, frame it as a short, playful exercise that teaches skills, keep it time-boxed, explain the intent (connection and learning), and use it as a springboard to encourage imaginative use of existing tools rather than a distraction from priorities. Tools like Make.com provide visual automation capabilities that can help teams transition from simple Excel tricks to more sophisticated workflow automation systems.
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