https://bjlsystems.com/notes Short things learned on the job, most days. Longer articles every so often. en https://bjlsystems.com/notes/the-spreadsheet-isnt-the-problem https://bjlsystems.com/notes/the-spreadsheet-isnt-the-problem Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most spreadsheets I’m asked to replace work fine. The trouble is everything around them: three copies emailed back and forth, nobody sure which is current, one person who knows what column R means. Fix the sharing and the ownership first. Sometimes that’s all it needs. https://bjlsystems.com/notes/one-form-three-systems https://bjlsystems.com/notes/one-form-three-systems Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A crew fills in one form on their phone. Behind it, the answers go to the job record, the photos to the job folder and a PDF report to the client. Nobody retypes anything. That’s what most integration work looks like in practice — not glamorous, just one less job for the office. https://bjlsystems.com/notes/when-to-stop-adding-to-the-spreadsheet https://bjlsystems.com/notes/when-to-stop-adding-to-the-spreadsheet Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Every growing field business hits the point where the workbook that got it here starts holding it back. Five signs you’ve reached it, what the research says about spreadsheet errors, and what to do next. https://bjlsystems.com/notes/a-backup-youve-never-restored-isnt-a-backup https://bjlsystems.com/notes/a-backup-youve-never-restored-isnt-a-backup Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Pick one file this week and actually restore it from backup. If you can’t, or don’t know how, you’ve found your most important IT job for the month. The federal [Get Cyber Safe guidance for small businesses](https://getcybersafe.gc.ca/en/blogs/plan-help-your-small-business-respond-cyber-attacks) puts testing your backup systems in the incident plan, alongside having them. Restore to a separate folder, never over the live copy, and write down how long it took. https://bjlsystems.com/notes/ask-the-person-who-does-the-job https://bjlsystems.com/notes/ask-the-person-who-does-the-job Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Before designing anything, sit with whoever does the task today. The manager’s description and the real process are rarely the same, and the difference is where the time goes. https://bjlsystems.com/notes/not-everything-needs-ai https://bjlsystems.com/notes/not-everything-needs-ai Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT A rule that sends an email when a date passes isn’t AI, and doesn’t need to be. Use the simple tool first. Reach for AI when the input is messy: free text, documents, photos. Most Canadian businesses still aren’t using it at all. In [Statistics Canada’s spring 2026 survey](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260527/dq260527a-eng.htm), 19.2% had used AI to produce goods or deliver services, and the second most common use was text analytics, which is exactly that kind of messy input. https://bjlsystems.com/notes/what-a-systems-diagnostic-actually-is https://bjlsystems.com/notes/what-a-systems-diagnostic-actually-is Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Two to three weeks, a fixed fee and a written plan. What happens in that time, what you get at the end, and why it often ends with “don’t build that”. https://bjlsystems.com/notes/name-things-for-the-people-who-use-them https://bjlsystems.com/notes/name-things-for-the-people-who-use-them Sat, 26 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT Call the button “Send to accounts”, not “Sync”. The person clicking it shouldn’t need to know how it works.