Experiments in regeneration
By Kim Deans
Navigating uncertainty is a common challenge we face in transitioning towards more regenerative agricultural systems. Yet when we consider that nothing in life is certain, then it seems crazy that we hold ourselves back by trying to control everything!
When the fear of the unknown, worrying about what other people think or concerns around finances are holding us back from our regenerative vision the best way to break through our self-limiting beliefs and assumptions is to start experimenting.
Things can never change without experimenting and trying out new ideas or methods. We cannot be creative or innovative without experimenting. Experimentation is how we improve our lives.
Life is one big experiment. Everything we do can be an experiment. When we consciously choose to approach our life and relate to our business and landscape as an experiment we choose a pathway of curiosity, discovery, learning and growth.
Experimentation is a path of constant improvement. When setbacks occur in our experiments, we can see these as feedback indicating we need to make some adjustments to see if we can create a better result. Experimentation fine tunes our observational skills and connects us to the unseen aspects of the system.
Experimentation is how we navigate uncertainty without control, where we cultivate patience and become less attached to the results. Choosing experiments in regeneration opens the door to a growth mindset. Instead of looking for “the” one answer we choose to live in the questions instead. Instead of finding reasons “that won’t work for me” we ask, “how could that work for me?”.
Living life as an experiment is an approach to managing uncertainty by making informed decisions with the best information available at the time, as appropriate for our unique context and learning from the outcomes. We experiment with our own ideas as well as advice from others, implementing ideas with the intention to see how they work in our unique context, keeping our eyes open for unintended consequences.
Yes, there will always be risks. Life IS risky. We can navigate uncertainty by choosing the type of experiment and the scale that is most appropriate for our context. Context is everything.
If we aren’t experimenting, we aren’t learning. If we aren’t learning, we aren’t growing. If we aren’t growing, we cease to improve and move forwards towards regeneration.
“The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing and becomes nothing.” Norman Vincent Peale.