Improving self-awareness with the Johari Window

The Johari Window describes a funda­mental process for improving emotional intel­li­gence. Developed in the 1950s by American psychol­o­gists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, the model is espe­cially relevant with today’s emphasis on improving ‘soft’ skills — behavior, empathy, coop­er­ation, collab­o­ration, inter-group devel­opment and inter­per­sonal development.

Two key beliefs support the tool:

• Indi­viduals can build trust with others by disclosing infor­mation about themselves.
• Indi­viduals can learn about them­selves and come to terms with personal issues with the help of feedback from others.

The Johari Window can be used to improve

• an individual’s under­standing of self,
• under­standing between two or more individuals,
• under­standing between indi­viduals within a team or in a group setting,
• a group’s rela­tionship with other groups.

The model

The window actually repre­sents infor­mation — feelings, expe­rience, views, atti­tudes, skills, inten­tions, moti­vation, etc. — within or about a person in relation to others, from four perspec­tives. Each of the window quad­rants repre­sents the infor­mation known about the person, in terms of whether the infor­mation is known or unknown by the person, and whether the infor­mation is known or unknown by others in the group. The internal bound­aries of each pane change depending on the amount of feedback sought and received.

Open Area — what I know about myself and is also known by others (also known as open self, free area, free self or ‘the arena’). The behaviors revealed in this area are ones I am not defensive about. In new rela­tion­ships the open area for each person is small because shared awareness is rela­tively small.

Blind Area — what I don’t know about myself but which others know (also known as blind self or ‘blindspot’). This area remains blind to me because others may not tell me for fear of offending me. This can be simple infor­mation or can involve deep issues (i.e. feelings of inad­e­quacy, incom­pe­tence, unwor­thiness, rejection) that are difficult for me to face directly and yet can be seen by others.

Hidden Area — what I known about myself that others do not know (hidden self, avoided area, avoided self or ‘facade’). I keep secrets for fear of others’ reaction to them. Secrets may pertain to feelings, atti­tudes and behavior.

To Be Known — what I don’t know about myself and is also unknown by others (unknown area or unknown self). I may learn unknown material through self-reflection and feedback exchanges with others. This “to be known” area repre­sents inter­per­sonal dynamics, early childhood memories plus undis­covered strengths and apti­tudes. Knowing all about myself is extremely unlikely. The uncon­scious extension in the model repre­sents the part of me that will always remain unknown.

Goal: Expand the open area

The goal for using the model in rela­tion­ships is to develop the open area for every person, because we are at our most effective and productive when we spend time with others in this area. The open area is the space where good commu­ni­ca­tions and coop­er­ation occur, free from distrac­tions, mistrust, confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.

There are three ways to develop or expand the open area — using self-disclosure, feedback solic­i­tation and shared discovery.

Self-disclosure expands the open area and decreases the hidden area — infor­mation known to me and not known to others.

Feedback solic­i­tation expands the open area and decreases the blind area — infor­mation unknown to me and known to others.

Shared discovery expands the open area and decreases the hidden, blind and to be known areas.

As a first step, consider the things that you easily reveal. Is there a shared subject area or pattern? Also begin to consider the things that you keep hidden from others. List as many items that quickly come to mind. What shared subjects are covered or what patterns do you see?

In the coming weeks, I’ll share some exer­cises to help you improve self-disclosure, feedback solic­i­tation and shared discovery — espe­cially how to shift from surprising unso­licited feedback to creating a psycho­log­i­cally safe space for solicited feedback.