Up here in Maine, we still have a hint of winter. Just a touch of snow remains, although it’s disappearing fast.
On weekends, I teach a skiing class of 7-year-olds. We meet every Saturday and Sunday morning at 9 a.m. and ski together for three hours. It’s everything you imagine—the joys of singing and laughing, the sorrow and frustration of not being able to ride the chairlift with a particular friend, the embarrassment of having to ride with a strange adult for safety, and the excitement of skiing through the woods. The whole experience is deeply analog, unpredictable, real, and alien to working in a knowledge economy.
We get to the mountain early. My wife works on ski patrol and needs to be there by 7:30 a.m. So, I show up with her and have some time before my class. The chairlift opens to the public at 8:30 a.m., so I typically ski a little before class.
A couple months ago, I was walking to the chairlift at 8:25 a.m. and saw Jack, a boy in my class. He asked what I was doing, and I explained I was going skiing before class, so he asked if he could join me. Of course.
So now it’s a regular thing. At 8:25 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday, Jack and I meet at the chairlift and ski a little before class. We talk, survey the conditions, and the weather. It’s a pretty cool ritual and only happened because we actually show up, IRL.
In this world, in which Sam Altman recently predicted:
“95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today will easily, nearly instantly, and at almost no cost, be handled by AI — and the AI will likely be able to test the creative against real or synthetic customer focus groups for predicting results and optimizing.”
Read that again. 95%. Easily. Nearly instantly. At almost no cost. Handled by AI.
But it won’t be created by YOU. We engage in creative activities for two primary reasons. The first is to make an impact on others—our writing, singing, speaking, and presenting can profoundly affect our audience, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unexpectedly.
The second, and perhaps more significant, reason is the impact creation has on us. By teaching, inspiring, and crafting experiences, we internalize the creative process and transform ourselves through our expressions.
Although AI can streamline tasks and predict outcomes, it cannot replicate the unpredictability and warmth of human connections. As our world increasingly leans digital, our analog experiences serve as potent reminders that certain aspects of life, especially those involving deep, heartfelt connections, remain out of AI’s reach.
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Speaking of the power of human interactions and going analog, we produced a course how to be a coach for your team. It’s called Coaching Skills for Managers.
