Since moving to Calgary, we’ve organized an annual ski trip with my in-laws. We usually head somewhere driving distance from Alberta, so often Inner BC: Fernie, Golden, Revelstoke, and Red Mountain (Rossland) have all been destinations. This year we went back to Fernie, and it was our first time taking a ~weeklong road trip with Henry. With Frankie (the dog), Henry (the baby), and all the ski gear, we pretty close to maxed out our vehicle (Tiguan) for space. Now, for years, my in-laws have been joking that at some point we’ll need to buy a Suburban. And for years, I thought that was a joke. But I think it’s become a bit more serious.

I hate the suburban. It’s a stupid looking car. It’s humungous. It’s expensive. It looks like a bus. But clearly, it’s very practical if you are hauling a lot of stuff and a lot of humans. The nature of these conversations about getting a suburban is tied to a very specific event: an annual ski road trip. An annual road trip to ski is probably the most space-consuming trip we make as a family all year. At no other time do I need to fill my car with that much stuff. In fact, 95% of the time we use the car, it’s more than sufficient for space. I have been left thinking; do you purchase an oversized vehicle to satisfy 5% of your usage? I think the answer is no. Generally, you should design your life around the majority of use cases and solve for the exceptions as outliers (e.g., perhaps we rent a suburban once a year?).

One principle I value when it comes to creating a new product or policy is to design for the majority. A habit I picked up from working in an investing role is to attempt and identify uncommon outcomes; identifying uncommon but potentially significant outcomes was a valued skill. That mindset – naturally considering hypothetical scenarios – has sometimes made it hard to balance my desire to design for the majority when designing new HR policies (do we create the overhead to satisfy a rare but possible need?) or providing feedback on software development (do we solve for that uncommon, but very painful use case a client has?).

I’m still working through my opinion on this, but where I’m circling is to start by designing for the majority, yet consider the potential frequency of uncommon events and the severity of their outcomes to determine when an exception is needed.

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.

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.