4: Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback
Apply Self Regulation and Accept Feedback
“We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.”
🌍 About the Principle
The idea for this principle is to consider and be open to accepting feedback. Our natural world has many feedback mechanisms built into it, and we are seeing that right now in global challenges like climate change.
This principle urges us to consider how to evaluate and to respond to the feedback we get so that we are not stuck continuing to do things without evaluating how beneficial they are for ourselves and for others in our lives.
Another way to think about it is to consider when something has reached it’s limit. For example, a plant will reach the edges of it’s pot and might need to have something new done. This principle is a reminder that healthy systems—whether personal or communal—rely on the ability to listen, evaluate, and adjust.
🌱 Feedback in Your Life
Where are the formal feedback loops in my life? Do I get grades? Progress reports? Temperature readings? Scales? Lab Tests? Blood Tests? Deadlines? Performance Metrics? Evaluations? Comments? What impact do these have on me? How do I respond to them?
What kinds of informal feedback loops do I have in my life? How do people respond to me socially? What do people say when they talk about me or my work? What feedback do they give me?
What is my typical response to feedback? Do I ignore it? Take it seriously? Does it depend on who or how I get that feedback? When do I respond and when do I not respond?
What activities occur in my life that I respond to without thinking? Am I responsive to the weather? The news? My partner’s mood? The dog’s appetite? The day of the week? The terrain of my backyard?
What kind of boundaries do you set in your life and when do you feel they’ve been transgressed? What does a transgression signal to you?
Looking at your eating and your sleep, what are the feedback cycles that let you consider what is working or not working in your body’s feedback loops?
🌐 Feedback in Your Community
What kind of feedback is useful for the systems in your community? Do people express gratitude or displeasure when something is or isn’t going the way they expect? How is this voiced?
What kind of system is needed for events and shifts in the community? What changes need to occur when there are more people because of an event, or a season when there are tourists, or when there are seasonal changes like weather? How does the community respond?
🌿 Examples in the Natural World
Climate Change - We are hearing negative feedback from the world right now in terms of climate change. It is a wonder that the world is telling us what we need to hear and continuing to give us feedback!
Pruning - When caring for trees and bushes, there are some varieties that need pruning to redirect its energy towards healthy growth and focusing on what matters most. The tree that isn’t pruned can have lower yields and weaker limbs.
Wolves - There is an equilibrium between wolves and deer populations in places like Yellowstone park. When there are not enough predators, deer will overgraze. When there are enough predators, there is balance.
🌀Integrating this Principle
- Consider responding to things that are typically considered “negative” feedback with a sense of gratitude that you are hearing a response. When someone gives feedback that is negative, even if it is wrong or unkind it is often because they care so much about something and feel that the system is out of balance. If you can take it less personally, it can be useful information.
📖 Resources for Further Exploration
Written by Beth M. Duckles. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Contact me.