Using Generative AI and Ski Coaching: Finding the Flow in the Chaos

A long time ago, in my late teens and early twenties, I worked weekends for an inspiring organization called SkiForAll - where I taught ski racing to children with developmental challenges. It was an incredible experience both for me, for the children, and for their parents who got to be so proud by the end of the season at how sport could build confidence in their little ones!?

The ski season is upon us here in Switzerland and now that I am working with AI daily as I help build Hoja Ai, teaching Ai in my courses at the bachelor and executive levels, and with my LinkedIn feed full of AI… I started thinking about that time when I was teaching skiing and the parallels to this new AI world.

Here’s what I’ve learned about AI from chasing fearless (and sometimes very stubborn) kids down snowy slopes.

1. It’s Not About Control—It’s About Trust

There’s a moment in skiing when you see a child stop fighting the mountain. They stop gripping their poles for dear life, stop overthinking their turns, and just trust the snow, the skis, and themselves. When that happens, their face lights up, and they’re suddenly gliding instead of battling gravity. They start to love it!

Starting out with generative AI is a lesson in letting go and trusting the process. It’s not about controlling every output or forcing it into a predefined mold. Like skiing, it’s about finding flow. You start with a wobbly, uncertain beginning—your prompts feel clunky, the results are unpredictable—but as you refine your approach, something shifts. The system starts to respond, not perfectly, but with surprising flashes of brilliance that make you stop and think: This is working!

I’m reminded of a child I coached who spent weekends clinging to the bunny slope, inching forward like every movement was life or death. We practiced endlessly, trying to loosen his grip and let him feel the skis guiding him on the snow. Then, one day, he just let go—literally and figuratively. He zipped past me, grinning and shouting, “I got it!” That pure joy of discovery didn’t come from me controlling his every move; it came from creating the space for him to figure it out.

Working with generative AI is similar -you cannot micromanage its every output—you create the right conditions, refine your input, and trust the process. When your combined efforts finally click and produce something extraordinary, it’s as if together you and the system are shouting, “We got it!” And just like that kid on the slopes, it reminds you why you started in the first place.

2. Embrace the Wipeouts—That’s Where the Magic Is

I once had a skier who fell every single time she hit a particular turn in the race course, frustratingly it was right at the end of the course. She would pick herself up, determined, only to tumble again on the next run. Finally, after what felt like the hundredth crash, she nailed it. And not just nailed it— owned it - finishing the course with a huge proud smile. That one turn became her favorite part.

Generative AI wipeouts are just as common. You ask it to write something, and it produces nonsense—or worse, something painfully dull - or completely wrong. But every time it “crashes,” it teaches you something: tweak the prompt, change the parameters, rethink your data. AI doesn’t just get better through iteration—you do. Split larger projects into parts, make smaller more precise prompts, contextualize better, tell it to get creative, to use your voice...

Those wipeouts? They’re where the real learning happens. And when it finally sticks the landing—producing an idea or solution so spot-on you can’t help but grin—it’s all worth it.

3. Creativity Lives in the Chaos

If there’s one thing kids are good at, it’s turning chaos into magic. I’ve watched young skiers skip the gates entirely to freestyle their way down a run, laughing and twirling like snow wasn’t even real. Sure, it wasn’t technically “correct… “ It was pure, unfiltered creativity.

Generative AI is a lot like that rogue skier. It doesn’t always stay within the lines, and sometimes it goes so far off-piste, you wonder if it’s broken. But that’s also where it shines.

One time, I watched a child “accidentally” turn a slalom practice into an impromptu snowball fight. Was it productive? Not in the traditional sense. Was it creative? Absolutely.

Generative AI has that same energy—it might not always give you what you asked for, but maybe… maybe… it’s something you didn’t know you needed and can lead you down a rabbit hole of creativity. I recently spent many a late evening in an AI rabbit hole talking to ChatGPT about some tangential subject that has no direct impact on my work, but is just so interesting and weird that it sucks me in. Who knows… maybe that's what I needed.?:D

4. Patience is the Price of Progress

Coaching kids with disabilities taught me that progress doesn’t follow a straight line. Some kids took weeks just to learn how to stop without falling, let alone race. But when they got it, they didn’t just learn to ski—they learned resilience, patience, and the joy of hard-won victories. Particularly with children who are told they are ‘different’ or ‘cannot’ do something, success at sports is life changing.?

Generative AI requires that same patience. It’s not perfect, and it never will be. You have to train it, tweak it, and sometimes just sit with it until it works. But the moment it clicks—whether it’s drafting an insightful report or coming up with a wild idea no one else thought of—it’s unstoppable. Ethan Mollick recently wrote that the key to success with Gen AI is just to use it, to try, and to be patient. The parallel with skiing is staggering. With skiing you also just need to do it. You can read as many textbooks or blogs about skiing as you want - you won't get to the bottom of the mountain until you actually put on your skis.

5. Joy is the Secret Ingredient

The best moments as a coach weren’t about medals. They were about seeing kids discover the sheer joy of skiing: laughing as they fell, high-fiving teammates, or finally tackling a run they thought was too hard. And that confidence at the end of the season spilled into other parts of their lives.

Generative AI has that same potential for joy. Sure, it’s great for productivity, but the real fun comes when you let it play. Use it to brainstorm ideas, speak to it about random ideas, write something ridiculous, or explore possibilities you wouldn’t normally consider. AI on its own will not come up with something brilliant, but together as a team, guided by you, AI can complement and enhance your own thoughts and processes.?

It’s messy, unpredictable, and occasionally frustrating. But it’s also exhilarating, creative, and full of moments that take your breath away. Whether you’re coaching kids through their first race or working with AI to reimagine what’s possible, the lessons are the same: trust the process, embrace the wipeouts and crashes, and find the joy in every turn.

What’s your favorite wipeout moment—on the slopes or with AI? Let’s share stories.