Working Smarter

One idea, one example, one tool. Monthly.

Your business doesn’t need more AI news. It needs a useful answer to “could this make our work easier?” A monthly letter for owners who want to capture what their team knows and spend less time doing the same work twice.

Written by Ben KalkmanFounder, Digital Ignitor

Less noise. More use.

Start with the work.
Not the technology.

The question isn’t which AI tool is newest. It’s where answers get stuck, where work repeats, and what would help your team move forward. That’s what this letter explores.

One idea: A different way to look at a familiar business problem: the answer only you know, the handoff that keeps breaking, the task you keep putting off.
One example: What that idea looks like in everyday work. Enough detail to judge whether it belongs in your business, without pretending every business works the same way.
One tool: A practical way to try it. Sometimes that means AI. Sometimes it means a better question or a shared document. The point is useful work, not more software.

A taste of the approach

Illustrative preview — not a published issue

The next time someone asks you the same question, capture the answer.

You don’t need to document your whole business in one sitting. Start with one answer your team keeps coming back for. Make it easier to find next time.

The idea

Repeated questions are clues. They show you where useful knowledge is missing, unclear, or hard to reach. Before you automate the answer, write down how you actually make the decision.

The example

Suppose your team keeps asking when to escalate a customer complaint. Capture the usual steps, the exceptions, and who makes the call. Include one ordinary situation and one that needs your attention. Now the team has something specific to work from.

The tool

Use a shared document first. If you use an approved AI tool, give it a version of your notes with confidential details removed and ask:

“Turn these notes into a short checklist for our team. Separate the usual steps from the exceptions. Don’t invent rules or fill in gaps. List anything that needs my clarification.”

The check

Review every step before sharing it. AI can organize an answer; it can’t decide your policy for you. Ask a team member to try the checklist on a real situation, then improve what wasn’t clear.

A small starting point, not a promise of instant automation. Keep customer, employee, and other sensitive information out of tools your business hasn’t approved.

The person behind the letter

Ben Kalkman.
Digital Ignitor.

Ben founded Digital Ignitor to help businesses use AI to solve real problems, organize what they know, and build smarter ways to work.

Working Smarter brings that same focus to a monthly letter: start with a real problem, explain the approach, and be clear about its limits.

More about Ben