Permaculture Principle #4: Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

By Jennifer Montgomery
​Board Member, Seacoast NH Permaculture

Principle #4 encourages us to apply self-regulation and accept feedback. This can be a tough one, of course. Many of us move in cultures and lives where “fortune favors the bold.” We often hurry and barge and act with impulse—for expediency or perhaps the comfort of habit. But this principle—in concert with Principle #1 Observe and Interact—invites us to embrace a different approach. To apply self-regulation and to seek and accept feedback requires an openness to a spirit of inquiry and growth, a spirit of a willingness to learn and to evolve our practices as we learn.
 
Principle #4 reminds me of my first forays into invasive-species control. I knew very little about the plants themselves or the impact of my actions. I saw the buckthorn and the bittersweet thriving on the edge of our woods, and I set about to remove them. With a big heavy axe and also a pickaxe. I found that method to be great fun—for me. It was a terrific workout, and it was viscerally satisfying to succeed in chopping and digging at stumps and roots until I could pull them out in my private little triumph. 
 
What I didn’t know—and hadn’t taken the initiative to learn—was that in addition to digging out these invasives, I was inviting them and others to take more root in all the disturbed soil I was creating. And I was also compacting the soil and trodding on unknown numbers of jack in the pulpit, trillium, goldenrod, asters, milkweed, and more (few of which I could identify at that point). I probably did quite a bit more damage than good, and I regret it to this day. 
 
The scales fell from my eyes a year later when I attended training in the stewardship of natural resources. The training included substantial introduction to Permaculture and to the importance of applying self-regulation and accepting feedback. Part of what has been so powerful about Permaculture for me is the spirit in which participants welcome and interact with each other and with novices like me. For many of us, feedback can land most powerfully when it’s delivered in a spirit of good will, encouragement, and the sense of possibility of knowing and doing better. Principle #4 in the wrong hands could feel punitive and destructive, but in the full context of Permaculture it’s a beautiful opportunity to grow and do better.
 
Depending on the sources you consult, Principle #4 can be quite simple or very complex. One compelling idea from www.permacultureprinciples.com (Principle #4) was the example of the earth itself: “…The whole earth is the largest scale example we have of a self-regulating ‘organism’ which is subject to feedback controls, like global warming.” For most of us, self-regulation and acting on feedback is a much simpler affair, but it can have huge benefits. 
 
Examples of Applying Self-regulation and Accepting Feedback

• The challenge of invasive species invites us to self-regulate and accept feedback. How, whether, and when we push back against invasives have an impact on native plants, our environment, pollinators, wildlife, and our neighbors’ homes and gardens. Are we thoughtful and well-informed about our choices and their impacts? And do we tackle these bigger problems in concert with the interests and wisdom of  others?
• Pruning trees and shrubs can be an intimidating endeavor that pushes us to take great care—or it can be something that we dive into with good intentions but an absence of knowledge and technique. With Principle #4, we can hold ourselves accountable to act with care and restraint and to seek and apply feedback from those with contemporary knowledge of the best practices in pruning and care.
• In Nature, species like porcupine and squirrels are continually weighing the benefits of self-regulation (i.e. self-preservation) and the feedback they get when they encounter humans and dogs. As with people, it seems to be a balancing act, and an opportunity to live and learn—or not.
• How do we move in the world in the context of our espoused beliefs? If we are committed to believing and speaking about the dangers of climate change and the impact of fossil fuels, do our own travel/usage habits and other daily decisions reflect that? Do we receive feedback about our choices in a spirit of inquiry and openness or do we struggle not to become defensive of our choices?
• Sometimes there can be tension between Permaculture Principles like obtaining a yield and the desire we have for yards and gardens to yield mainly aesthetic benefits—in ways that preclude food production, pollinator habitat, and so on. In what ways can applying self-regulation and accepting feedback help us have more balance in our actions and approaches in this regard?

 
Take Action
Pick an area of your life—in your yard/garden or in your family/community involvement, perhaps—where you can reflect on your actions over time and imagine where you would have been well-served to apply self-regulation and accept feedback. How can you reset yourself to prioritize self-regulation and accept feedback in this area going forward? Imagine some concrete steps and plan how you might take one of those steps.