-
johari window
Ingham and Luft's
Johari Window model
diagrams and
examples - for self-awareness,
personal
development, group development and
understanding relationships
The Johari Window model is a simple and
useful tool for illustrating and
improving self-awareness, and mutual
understanding between individuals within
a group. The Johari Window model can
also be used to assess and improve a
group's relationship with other groups.
The Johari Window model was devised by
American psychologists Joseph Luft and
Harry Ingham in 1955, while researching
group dynamics at the University of
California Los Angeles. The model was first
published in the Proceedings of the
Western Training Laboratory in Group
Development by UCLA Extension Office in
1955, and was later expanded by
Joseph
Luft. Today the Johari Window model is especially
relevant due to
modern emphasis on, and
influence of, 'soft' skills, behaviour, empathy,
cooperation, inter-group development
and interpersonal development.
The
Johari Window concept is particularly helpful to
understanding
employee/employer
relationships within
the Psychological
Contract
.
Over the years,
alternative Johari Window terminology has been
developed and
adapted by other people -
particularly leading to different descriptions of
the four
regions, hence the use of
different terms in this explanation. Don't let it
all
confuse you - the Johari Window
model is really very simple indeed.
free johari window model diagram (pdf -
landscape)
free
johari window model diagram (pdf -
portrait)
(The
Johari Window diagram is also available in MSWord
format from the
free
resources section
.)
Luft and Ingham called their Johari
Window model 'Johari' after combining their
first names, Joe and Harry. In early
publications the word appears as 'JoHari'.
The Johari Window soon became a widely
used model for understanding and
training self-awareness, personal
development, improving communications,
interpersonal relationships, group
dynamics, team development and inter-group
relationships.
The Johari
Window model is also referred to as a
'disclosure/feedback model of
self
awareness', and by some people an 'information
processing tool'. The Johari
Window
actually represents information - feelings,
experience, views, attitudes,
skills,
intentions, motivation, etc - within or about a
person - in relation to their
group,
from four perspectives, which are described below.
The Johari Window
model can also be
used to represent the same information for a group
in relation
to other groups. Johari
Window terminology refers to 'self' and 'others':
'self'
means oneself, ie, the person
subject to the Johari Window analysis. 'Others'
means other people in the person's
group or team.
N.B. When the Johari
Window model is used to assess and develop groups
in
relation to other groups, the 'self'
would be the group, and 'others' would be
other groups. However, for ease of
explanation and understanding of the Johari
Window and examples in this article,
think of the model applying to an individual
within a group, rather than a group
relating to other groups.
The four
Johari Window perspectives are called 'regions' or
'areas' or 'quadrants'.
Each of these
regions contains and represents the information -
feelings,
motivation, etc - 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 Johari Window's four regions,
(areas, quadrants, or perspectives) are as
follows, showing the quadrant numbers
and commonly used names:
johari window
four regions
1.
what is known by the person about
him/herself and is also known by
others -
open area, open
self, free
area, free self, or 'the
arena'
2.
what is unknown by the person about
him/herself but which others know -
blind area, blind self, or
'blindspot'
3.
what the
person knows about
him/herself that
others do not know -
hidden area,
hidden self, avoided
area, avoided self
or 'facade'
4.
what is unknown by the person about
him/herself and is also unknown by
others -
unknown area or
unknown self
johari window four regions - model
diagram
Like some other behavioural
models (eg,
Tuckman,
Hersey/Blanchard
), the
Johari Window is based on a four-square
grid - the Johari Window is like a
window with four 'panes'. Here's how
the Johari Window is normally shown, with
its four regions.
This is
the
standard
representation
of
the Johari
Window model,
showing each
quadrant the
same size.
The
Johari
Window 'panes'
can be
changed
in size to reflect
the relevant
proportions of
each type of
'knowledge'
of/about a
particular person
in a given group
or team
situation.
In new groups or
teams the open
free space
for any
team member is
small
(
see the
Johari Window
new team
member example
below
) because
shared awareness
is
relatively small.
As the
team
member becomes
better
established
and known, so
the size of the
team
member's
open free area
quadrant
increases.
See the
Johari Window
established team
member
example
below
.
johari window model - explanation of
the four
regions
Refer to
the
free detailed Johari Window model
diagram
in the free resources
section - print a copy and it will help
you to understand what follows.
johari quadrant 1 - 'open self/area' or
'free
area' or 'public area', or
'arena'
Johari region 1 is also known
as the 'area of free activity'. This is the
information
about the person -
behaviour, attitude, feelings, emotion, knowledge,
experience,
skills, views, etc -
known
by the person ('the
self') and
known
by the
group
('others').
The aim
in any group should always be to develop the 'open
area' for
every person, because when we
work in this area with others we are at
our most effective and productive, and
the group is at its most
productive
too. The open free area, or 'the arena', can be
seen as the
space where good
communications and cooperation occur, free from
distractions, mistrust, confusion,
conflict and misunderstanding.
Established team members logically tend
to have larger open areas than new
team
members. New team members start with relatively
small open areas
because relatively
little knowledge about the new team member is
shared. The
size of the open area can
be expanded horizontally into the blind space, by
seeking and actively listening to
feedback from other group members. This
process is known as 'feedback
solicitation'. Also, other group members can help
a team member expand their open area by
offering feedback, sensitively of
course. The size of the open area can
also be expanded vertically downwards
into the hidden or avoided space by the
person's disclosure of information,
feelings, etc about him/herself to the
group and group members. Also, group
members can help a person expand their
open area into the hidden area by
asking the person about him/herself.
Managers and team leaders can play an
important role in facilitating feedback
and disclosure among group members, and
in directly giving feedback to
individuals about their own blind areas. Leaders
also have a big responsibility to
promote a culture and expectation for open,
honest, positive, helpful,
constructive, sensitive communications, and the
sharing
of knowledge throughout their
organization. Top performing groups,
departments, companies and
organizations always tend to have a culture of
open
positive communication, so
encouraging the positive development of the 'open
area' or 'open self' for everyone is a
simple yet fundamental aspect of effective
leadership.
johari quadrant
2 - 'blind self' or 'blind area' or
'blindspot'
Johari region 2
is what is
known
about a
person by others in the group, but is
unknown
by the person
him/herself. By seeking or soliciting feedback
from
others, the aim should be to
reduce this area and thereby to increase the open
area (
see the Johari Window
diagram below
), ie, to increase self-
awareness. This
blind area is not an
effective or productive space for individuals or
groups. This
blind area could also be
referred to as ignorance about oneself, or issues
in
which one is deluded. A blind area
could also include issues that others are
deliberately withholding from a person.
We all know how difficult it is to work
well when kept in the dark. No-one
works well when subject to 'mushroom
management'. People who are 'thick-
skinned' tend to have a large 'blind area'.
Group members and managers can take
some responsibility for helping an
individual to reduce their blind area -
in turn increasing the open area - by giving
sensitive feedback and encouraging
disclosure. Managers should promote a
climate of non-judgemental feedback,
and group response to individual
disclosure, which reduces fear and
therefore encourages both processes to
happen. The extent to which an
individual seeks feedback, and the issues on
which feedback is sought, must always
be at the individual's own discretion.
Some people are more resilient than
others - care needs to be taken to avoid
causing emotional upset. The process of
soliciting serious and deep feedback
relates to the process of 'self-
actualization' described in
Maslow's
Hierarchy of
Needs
development and motivation model.
johari quadrant 3 - 'hidden self' or
'hidden area'
or 'avoided self/area' or
'facade'
Johari region 3 is what is
known
to ourselves but kept
hidden from, and
therefore
unknown
, to others. This
hidden or avoided self represents
information, feelings, etc, anything
that a person knows about him/self, but
which is not revealed or is kept hidden
from others. The hidden area could also
include sensitivities, fears, hidden
agendas, manipulative intentions, secrets -
anything that a person knows but does
not reveal, for whatever reason. It's
natural for very personal and private
information and feelings to remain hidden,
indeed, certain information, feelings
and experiences have no bearing on work,
and so can and should remain hidden.
However, typically, a lot of hidden
information is not very personal, it is
work- or performance-related, and so is
better positioned in the open area.
Relevant hidden information and
feelings, etc, should be moved into the open
area through the process of
'disclosure'. The aim should be to disclose and
expose relevant information and
feelings - hence the Johari Window terminology
'self-disclosure' and 'exposure
process', thereby increasing the open area. By
telling others how we feel and other
information about ourselves we reduce the
hidden area, and increase the open
area, which enables better understanding,
cooperation, trust, team-working
effectiveness and productivity. Reducing hidden
areas also reduces the potential for
confusion, misunderstanding, poor
communication, etc, which all distract
from and undermine team effectiveness.
Organizational culture and working
atmosphere have a major influence on group
members' preparedness to disclose their
hidden selves. Most people fear
judgement or vulnerability and
therefore hold back hidden information and
feelings, etc, that if moved into the
open area, ie known by the group as well,
would enhance mutual understanding, and
thereby improve group awareness,
enabling better individual performance
and group effectiveness.
The extent to
which an individual discloses personal feelings
and information,
and the issues which
are disclosed, and to whom, must always be at the
individual's own discretion. Some
people are more keen and able than others to
disclose. People should disclose at a
pace and depth that they find personally
comfortable. As with feedback, some
people are more resilient than others - care
needs to be taken to avoid causing
emotional upset. Also as with soliciting
feedback, the process of serious
disclosure relates to the process of
'self-
actualization' described in
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
development and
motivation model.
johari quadrant 4 - 'unknown self' or
'area of
unknown activity' or 'unknown
area'
Johari region 4 contains
information, feelings, latent abilities,
aptitudes,
experiences etc, that are
unknown
to the person
him/herself and
unknown
to
others in the group. These unknown
issues take a variety of forms: they can be
feelings, behaviours, attitudes,
capabilities, aptitudes, which can be quite close
to the surface, and which can be
positive and useful, or they can be deeper
aspects of a person's personality,
influencing his/her behaviour to various
degrees. Large unknown areas would
typically be expected in younger people,
and people who lack experience or self-
belief.
Examples of unknown factors
are as follows, and the first example is
particularly
relevant and common,
especially in typical organizations and teams:
?
an ability that
is under-estimated or un-
tried through
lack of opportunity,
encouragement,
confidence or training
a natural
ability or aptitude that a person
doesn't realise they possess
a fear or aversion that a person does
not
know they have
an
unknown illness
repressed or
subconscious feelings
conditioned
behaviour or attitudes from
childhood
?
?
?
?
?
The processes
by which this information and knowledge can be
uncovered are
various, and can be
prompted through self-discovery or observation by
others, or
in certain situations
through collective or mutual discovery, of the
sort of
discovery experienced on
outward bound courses or other deep or intensive
group work. Counselling can also
uncover unknown issues, but this would then
be known to the person and by one
other, rather than by a group.
Whether
unknown 'discovered' knowledge moves into the
hidden, blind or open
area depends on
who discovers it and what they do with the
knowledge, notably
whether it is then
given as feedback, or disclosed. As with the
processes of