December 2024

  • The end of 2024

    The end of December is one of my favourite times of the year. There’s a collective quieting in the work world, which makes it significantly easier to detach and disconnect. There’s no professional ‘fomo’ or sense that your team, clients, or business are rumbling on without you. It’s a lot harder to disconnect during a normal course vacation when you’re the only one off. I love the drop-off in emails and notifications this time of year.

    I’m a sucker for the festive decorations in storefronts and outside of people’s houses. There are generally lots of social things happening, and people tend to be in a good mood. Lots of good meals to be had. I know not everyone does, but I’ve always had a fond association with Christmas and Hanukkah, which makes the holiday season a treat.

    I also enjoy closing the chapter on the year and the finality of an ending calendar period. January represents the hope and excitement of a new beginning. I always spend ~30 minutes this time of year jotting down reflections on the year past and goals for the coming year. I try not to formalize it too much. Whatever comes to mind, I make note of in bullet form. Over time, it serves as a point-in-time collection of what was top of mind each year. I started doing this in 2019 and it’s a lot of fun to go back and re-read previous years.

    I hope everyone finds some downtime this holiday season and I wish you all an exceptional 2025.

  • Best reads of 2024

    With 2024 coming to an end, I like to do a look back and reflect on the year about to pass before starting to think about the year ahead. I read some great books in 2024. Below I’ve listed some of the highlights, in no particular order.

    • Snowball, by Alice Shroeder.

    I love business biographies. This year I read ones on Michael Dell, Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia’s founder), Jamie Dimon, and Warren Buffett. The Buffett one was my favourite. He has a carefully crafted public image and I thought this book did a good job of providing a more balanced overview of his life. He is a unique individual with a fascinating story.  

    • War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy.

    Last year I decided I wanted to tackle one famous piece of literature a year and started in 2024 with War and Peace. “Tackle” is the right word since it’s a long and dense read. I ended up enjoying it more than I expected. What I found fascinating, is how consistent the themes in human nature are. I kept thinking, here I am reading a novel written by a Russian author in the 1860’s and the humour, interpersonal conflict, familial and marriage dynamics, are unbelievably relatable. With the breakthroughs in AI and so much discussion on the acceleration of technological change, I took some comfort from being reminded that while technology changes humans remain largely the same.

    • War of Kings, Brandon Sanderson.

    If you’re a fan of nerdy, fantasy novels, the Sanderson series is very good. A definite ‘page-turner’ and super enjoyable. This felt like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones level quality.

    • Far from the tree, by Andrew Solomon.

    I read fewer books on parenting than I expected to with Henry being born this year. One book I did read and recommend, was Far From the Tree, which covers the topic of how families accommodate children with physical, mental, and social disabilities and differences. It was pretty eye-opening and empathy building.

  • Sometimes, focus only on the good. Ignore the bad.

    I was at an event earlier this year where an older woman (the boss) opened her speech by expressing gratitude to her Associate (the employee) for all the heavy lifting required to organize the event. It was intended to be a sincere thank you. And it mostly was… except, one of her talking points included a sarcastic joke about an error made on one of the printouts. It was meant to be a light tease but it did not land well at all. It came across as mean spirited and you could absolutely tell the employee was offended.

    It reminded me of an important lesson my dad taught me a long time ago: in some situations, you need to focus exclusively on the good and ignore the bad. When I was around ten years old, I bought my mom a combo pack of scented perfume from Shoppers (good boy). It was some sort of 5-for-one pack, I think private label brand?, and probably intended for tweenage girls. Not my best gift, but I was young, so good intentions. My mom put it under her bathroom sink and it was never opened, which with the benefit of hindsight of course makes complete sense. But I noticed. And next year on her birthday, I was writing out her card and came to my dad to tell him I had come up with a witty comment to include. Something along the lines of “I hope you like this gift much more than the perfume that’s never been opened”. Fortunately, he pointed out that when you’re celebrating someone (e.g., it’s their birthday), you want to focus exclusively on the good. As simple and silly a story as that is, it really stuck with me.

    Adding sarcasm, or a back-handed compliment, or even teasing (if done in poor taste) to a genuine and sincerely intended message will at best water it down. When you’re announcing someone’s promotion, or giving a toast at your friend’s birthday, focus on the good and best parts of that person. Don’t use it as a chance to bring up an issue you might be having with them. It’s not the time or place for that.