Ever wondered about the sacrifices people around you make as they pursue their goals? Some people are motivated by quite selfish goals. They'll go without in one area to potentially win big later on. These people often get ahead, but equally often these people stand on toes and some are despised because of the selfishness. Others however are motivated by making sacrifices in order to make the world a better place. Simon is someone that fits in this latter category. I want to tell you about the work he is doing to help children who live in some of the poorest areas of our city.
Simon runs the Shoes Project at our local church. He decided one of the ways we could help our neighbours was provide shoes to every child (yes, every single one, that's thousands of kids) that attends a decile one primary school in our city. He negotiated a deal with a sports shoe company and put the word out there. He asked people to make a sacrifice, to give money, to help a child. And guess what? They did. His workmates gave. So did local businesses, and so did people at our local church. Even other kids. People were moved by not wanting these children to go through winter without decent shoes. You see, with good shoes they'd stay healthier, and learn more at school. People took up the opportunity to forgo some of their own hard-earned money in order to put shoes on the feet of a child who either didn't have any or whose shoes were quite simply falling apart. 
And do you think the kids appreciated the gesture? You bet! The project made the front page. Simon started with one school. When the sacrificial donations made by many were added up, there was enough money to give every child in two schools a new pair of shoes. All this has happened in the last four weeks. It's exciting! There's nearly enough money to do the third school, but there are so many more children still missing out. 
Would you like to be part of this? Can you sacrifice $26 to fund a pair of new high-quality sports shoes for a child? If so, please contact me by email or Twitter and I'll connect you.
This weekend, Easter, is when Christians the world over look to the core of their faith and the sacrifice God made. Dying for the sake of others is the ultimate sacrifice anyone can make—Jesus did this. Funding a pair of shoes for a growing child in a poor suburb is a much smaller sacrifice, but one with huge upsides.
Why is Simon doing this? It's all about improving the wellbeing of our community and the society we live in. Simple as that.

During the last nine months I've been privileged to have the space and time to ponder many things. Strategy. Governance. Why companies fail. Our purpose on Earth. Life.
Some of these thought pathways have emerged as a direct result of enrolling as a post-graduate student, and the work I needed to do to prepare to become a doctoral student. Others have emerged because I have time and space to think, and because the academic pathways have taught me to think more critically about things.
"Musings" is my response to all this. Rather than hold things close, I've decided to share with anyone who's prepared to listen or to follow. My ideas. My observations. My thoughts. Indeed, my musings. 
How often will I publish an entry? I'm not sure but I'd imagine once or maybe twice most weeks. Sometimes, I'll publish more publicly via LinkedIn or Twitter. The RSS tag means the system will alert you to new entries if you subscribe.