DLAC Ignite 2026
it would be
Easier If.
A one-page way to find where AI belongs in your digital program, and where it doesn't. Everything from Tuesday's session is here.
Tatiana Dominguez · Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026 · Marriott Marquis Atlanta
The method
Four moves, one sentence
Most failed solutions answer a misdiagnosed problem. Stay with the problem first.
Say it
Finish the sentence three times. Circle the one that costs the most.
The complaint is the data.
Dig it
Three questions before you fix anything. Then say it in one sentence.
What isn't the problem?
Map it
Where it starts, where it ends, who touches it, where it stalls.
Workarounds are signals.
Sort it
Every step gets a lane: AI owns, AI assists, or a human leads.
Don't automate chaos.
Take-homes
Print them, share them, keep them
Five PDFs and two Miro boards. All yours to keep and use with your teams.
PDF · 5 pages · Letter
Easier If worksheet packet
- Side A: Say it + Dig it
- Side B: your one-page AI readiness map
- Turn your map into a prompt (FLOW)
- Run it Monday: a 30-minute team session
Print pages 2 and 3 double-sided for a team session.
PDF · 12 pages · Letter
The Phoenix Checklist
- Five lenses on the problem, four moves to a plan
- Ways to run it on your own or with your team
- Three trapdoor questions for when you're frozen
Originally developed by the CIA, popularized by Michael Michalko, adapted by spark hive.
PDF · 2 pages · Letter
The FLOW framework
- Frame the goal, load the inputs, organize your playbook, work the iteration
- Thin vs. strong prompts, with school examples
- Five follow-ups that make any answer better
Pairs with the prompt builder further down this page.
PDF · 2 pages · Letter
The Decision Matrix
- Six steps, with a worked example: which AI experiment first?
- A blank matrix for up to four options
- Starter criteria for school and district teams
For when the room is split between two good options.
PDF · 7 pages · Letter
The Easier If deep dive
- Replay your day, write it out, and turn your top grievance into three “easier if”s
- Dig up the pain hiding inside the wish, wild ones included
- Stack the questions: QBQ, the Phoenix Checklist and SCAMPER
- The whole flow on one page, from venting to a wild field of options
A follow-along worksheet for the Easier If video. Every part is marked with its timestamp, so you know when to pause and write.
Quick reference
The questions and the lanes
Dig it: three questions
- 1What does staying stuck cost?Time, money, trust, students.
- 2What isn't the problem?Rule things out before you fix anything.
- 3Have we seen this before, in a different form?What did it teach us?
Then say it in one sentence, out loud, without hedging.
Sort it: three lanes
Your first experiment: the step that's most repetitive, lowest risk, and most annoying. Give it one owner and one check-in date. Two options too close to call? Use the Decision Matrix.
Tonight
Turn your map into a prompt
Copy what you wrote on Sides A and B into the boxes. The prompt fills in as you type.
frame · load · organize · work it
Your starter prompt
My role: district digital learning director. I'm working on family communication across our schools. I want a small, low-risk AI experiment I can test in 30 days. The problem, in one sentence: Families get school messages from four places, so they've stopped trusting any of them. How it works today: it starts when a teacher has news for families and ends when a family acts on it. The steps are: 1) the teacher writes the message 2) it goes out on the old app and the new app 3) the office re-sends to families who didn't open it 4) families call the front office to ask which one is real. It stalls at step 2, the double send, and people work around it by the office keeps a "never reads" list and calls those families. I sorted the steps. AI owns: routing family replies to the right inbox. AI assists: translation drafts a bilingual staffer checks. A human leads: choosing one channel, and anything about a specific child. For the step “routing family replies”, give me three options, what could go wrong with each, and how I'd know in 30 days that it worked. Ask me questions first if anything is unclear. Don't ask for or use any student names or records.
Before you paste anything
- No student names, IDs or records. Describe the process, not the people.
- Use your district-approved AI tool and loop in your data privacy lead.
- A person reviews anything that goes to families or students.
O · Organize your playbook. When the answer is good, save the prompt itself with a tag and a one-line note on when to use it. Then push: “Make it sharper.” “What did you leave out?” “Push back on this.”
Monday · 30 minutes · no slides
Run it with your team
The same four moves, with the people who do the work.
- 0:00–0:03Temperature check
“How do you feel about AI for our work?” One word each, around the table.
- 0:03–0:08Say it, silently
Everyone writes three “It would be easier if…” sticky notes, one per note.
- 0:08–0:13Cluster and pick
Notes on the wall. Group the duplicates. Dot-vote the one that costs the most.
- 0:13–0:20Dig it
The three questions, out loud. Then one person says the problem in one sentence. Rewrite it until nobody winces.
- 0:20–0:27Map it and sort it
On a whiteboard: start, end, steps, who touches each, stalls, workarounds. Every step gets a lane.
- 0:27–0:30Commit
One safe experiment, one owner, one check-in date on the calendar before anyone leaves.
Facilitator notes
- Write before you talk. People are more honest before they hear the boss.
- Don't solve anything during Say it.
- If the team fixes it during Dig it, great. It wasn't an AI problem.
- A long Human leads column shows where your people matter most.
30 days later
- What did it save? Time, steps, stress.
- What broke, or felt wrong to the people doing the work?
- Keep it, change it, or stop it. Then pick the next Easier If.
Next step · Spark Diagnostic
Get clear before you get clever.
AI doesn't fix broken systems. It amplifies them.
Easier If finds the complaint. The Spark Diagnostic maps the system behind it. It's a systems test that shows what your tools, your team and your knowledge are really doing. Then we walk through your results together, so you know exactly where to start.
- 1Get the diagnosticCheck out once. No subscription.
- 2Take the systems testFinish it and you can book your results meeting.
- 3Walk through your results30 minutes with Tatiana and a clear place to start.
The Spark Diagnostic
$195one-time
- Backend Sanity Log scorecard
- System Map Survey
- 30-minute live debrief with Tatiana
- $195 credit toward the Spark Explorer workshop within 30 days
Checkout opens on Stripe in a new tab.
start here ✦
Don't automate chaos. Clarify it.
This method is yours to keep, share and use freely.
Phoenix Checklist questions originally developed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and popularized by Michael Michalko in Thinkertoys (1991).