Is there a connection between Oprah, Mothers and Change? I often collect articles on specific topics to stimulate my imagination. I was unknowingly ready for the morning news.

Oprah Winfrey and a call to stir revolutionaries

I must admit the Golden Globes (Foreign Press Film Awards in the United States) ceremony lies beyond the realities of my aging body’s bedtime and interest. But when I awoke to comments such as the following my interest was peaked.

Being Oprah, most of her acceptance speech was spent honoring the marginalized, voiceless, and underappreciated heroes of history who paved the path for her success today. From Poitier to Rosa Parks, Oprah shared the honor with fellow revolutionaries, while making a call to action sure to stir future revolutionaries for generations to come. [Jess Joho on Mashable]

Mothers as mentors of dreams

All children have dreams. As parents, it is important for us to help them not only visualize their dreams, but to help them realize their full potential so that their lives will be much better than ours. Fellow mothers, let us wake up to the reality that the world is changing, and we the mothers are the agents of change.[ Milly Businge at HuffPost]

This passage of an insightful article in light of previous reflections I penned in The Incarnation – The Mother of all Systemic Changes led me back to an article 6 Lessons On Systemic Change From Motherhood And Parenting. The article claims that mothers are some of the most effective systemic change agents on the planet. A short paragraph unpacks the connection between each of the following “lessons” and motherhood.

• Lesson #1: Observed behavior is influenced by the underlying system structure
• Lesson #2: If you want to change the system, change the underlying structure
• Lesson #3: Some structures are easier to change than others
• Lesson #4: It is possible to achieve systemic change without achieving desired change
• Lesson #5: Systemic change initiates further change
• Lesson #6: Influence what you have no direct control over

The article concludes …

Transforming complex systems is equally tough, requires a long term view and cannot be achieved by singular fixes or isolated action. Strategic collaborations are needed with relevant parties to ensure that processes that are key for change to happen, but over which we have no direct influence are nevertheless supporting our efforts.  Investments towards understanding the underlying system structures to inform action is good value for money.

Check out the article in full and ponder the following.

Reflections and Questions

Mothers hang in for the long haul. Do we?
Mothers collaborate with many systems. Do we?
Mothers realize their children must develop their own approaches. Do we?