2. The Johari Window
A Disclosure and Feedback Model for:
○Self Awareness
○Personal Development
○Understanding Relationships
3. The Johari Window
○Technique created in 1955
○By two american psychologists, Joseph Luft
and Harrington Ingham
○While researching Human Personality at the
University of California
○Their names Joseph and Harri were combined
4. Open
Known to
self and to
others
Blind
Not known to
self, but
known to
others
Hidden/Facade
Known to self,
but not known
to others.
Unknown
Not known to
self or others
Ask
Tell
Known
by Self
Unknown
by Self
Known by
Others
Unknown
by Others
6. 43
1 2
Open
Area/Arena
1: Larger Open Area
● High level of mutual
trust and respect
● Objective and
meaningful relations
● Sensitive to needs of
self and others
● Open and authentic
Ask
Tell
7. Blind Area
43
1
2
2: Larger Blind Area
● Distrust in others’
competence
● Rigid opinions
● Fear of failure
Tell
Ask
Feedback
8. 4
3
1
21 2
3
Hidden Area/
Facade
3: Larger Hidden Area
● Distrust
● Masking to maintain
personal image
● Fear of exposure of
own inadequacies
● Indifferent behaviour
Ask
Tell
Self
Disclosure
9. 43
1 2
Unknown
Area
4: Larger Unknown
Area
● Indifferent behavior
● Low risk taking
● Withdrawn
● Non-communicative
● No importance to
interpersonal relations
Ask
Tell
Shared
Discovery
11. ○ Subject is given 55 adjectives and picks 5 or 6 that they feel
describe their personality.
○ Peers of the subject are given the same list of 55 adjectives and
are told to pick 5 or 6 that they think describe the subject.
Exercise
12. Team members and leaders should always be striving to increase
their open free areas, and to reduce their blind, hidden and
unknown areas.
Conclusion
A model for self-awareness, personal development, and understanding relationship.
The Johari Window actually represents information - feelings, experience, views, attitudes, skills, intentions, and motivation, within or about a person, in relation to their group.
Success and happiness. Self-awareness & Self-confidence.
Can we truly have success and happiness without developing interpersonal relations?
We find that people with good interpersonal skills get along well with people, and circumstances. (They connect with people & always know the right thing to say. - communication).
It is possible for everyone of us to develop really effective interpersonal skills. Are we interested and committed to improving our skills?
Joe and Harry were researching Human Personality at the University of California in 1955 when they devised the Johari Window.
The window offers a way of looking at how personality is expressed, rather than measuring personality.
Joe and Harry combined their first names to make ‘JoHari’.
The four Johari Window perspectives are called 'regions', 'areas' or 'quadrants'. Each of these regions contains and represents the feelings and motivations 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.
This is the standard representation of the Johari Window model.
The Johari Window quadrants can be changed in size to reflect the relevant proportions of each type of 'knowledge' of or about a particular person in a given group or team situation.
Goals:
To increase the individual’s knowledge of him/ herself, (to reduce the blind and unknown fields and move the vertical line to the right). As this field contains information which others know about me but which I don’t know about myself, the group must give me feedback. The more receptive I am to their feedback, the further the vertical line will move to the right.
To increase the efficiency of the group. This requires greater openness. Greater openness can be achieved by reducing the size of the hidden/facade and unknown fields, (by moving the horizontal line downwards).
Quadrant I: The Area of Free Activity
Behaviors attitudes and motivation known to both self and to others.
This field is characterized by an open exchange between myself and others. The field becomes larger when the trust between group members increases, which occurs when they exchange personal information with one another.
In a new group this quadrant is very small, there is not much free and spontaneous interaction. As the group grows and matures quadrant I will expand. This usually means that we are more free to be ourselves.
Example: An established team member.
The goal in any group should always be to develop the 'open area'/’Arena’ 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 area, can be seen as the space where good communications and cooperation occur, free from distractions, mistrust, confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.
Quadrant II: The Blind Area
Where others can see things in ourselves of which we are unaware.
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
It takes longer for quadrant II to shrink in size, because there are usually good reasons, of a psychological nature, to blind ourselves of the things we feel or do.
How to shrink a large ‘Blind Area’: (Increase self-awareness)
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. ('feedback solicitation').
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.
Caution: Some individuals are sensitive to receiving feedback.
Care needs to be taken to avoid emotional upset.
Quadrant III: The Avoided or Hidden Area
Things we know but do not reveal to others. (e.g., a hidden agenda, or matters in which we have sensitive feelings).
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.
How to shrink a large Hidden Area:
Relevant hidden information and feelings, etc, should be moved into the open area through the process of 'disclosure'.
Individuals can disclose information about our selves to other group members. Also, group members can help a person expand their open area into the hidden area by asking the person about him/herself.
As we become more open with others and more comfortable in our workplace we do not find it necessary to hide things or deny what we know of how we feel. (This can take time)
Giving feedback to the group about what we think and feel about what is happening within the group, the group will learn where each individual stands and will not need to guess or try to interpret their standpoint and behavior. This will enable better understanding, cooperation, trust, team-working effectiveness, and productivity.
Reducing hidden areas reduces the potential for confusion, misunderstanding, and poor communication, which all distract from and undermine team effectiveness.
Caution: Some things are better not communicated. (Mental health problems or large scale failures).
People should disclose at a pace and depth that they find personally comfortable.
Care needs to be taken to avoid causing emotional upset.
Quadrant IV: The Unknown Activity
Neither the individual nor others are aware of certain behaviors or motives.
These unknown issues take a variety of forms: they can be feelings, behaviours, attitudes, abilities, or 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.
Example: A new team member or a member within a new team.
We can assume their existence, because eventually some of these things become known and it is then realized that these unknown behaviours and motives were influencing relationships all along.
Large unknown areas would typically be expected in younger people, and people who lack experience or self-belief.
How to shrink a large Unknown Area:
Uncovering unknown information 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
Managers and leaders can help by creating an environment that encourages self-discovery, and to promote the processes of self discovery, constructive observation and feedback among team members
Caution: Again as with disclosure and soliciting feedback, the process of self discovery is a sensitive one.
The extent and depth to which an individual is able to seek out discover their unknown feelings must always be at the individual's own discretion. Some people are more keen and able than others to do this.
Adjectives selected by:
Subject and peers: Arena
Subject only: Hidden/Facade
Peers only: Blind area
Adjectives not selected by anyone: Unknown
The more we understand Human Behavior in others and especially ourselves, the better equipped we are to manage our emotions as well as become more authentic to others.
We are better armed to deal with differences, conflicts, and problems.
The importance of learning about ourselves is critical to our success in the world.
We need to become more open, confident, and comfortable with who we are.
A team which understands itself, that is, each person having a strong mutual understanding with the team, is far more effective than a team which does not understand each other, whose members have large hidden, blind, and/or unknown areas.
Team members and leaders should always be striving to increase their open free areas, and to reduce their blind, hidden and unknown areas.
coin logo ice-breaker (ice-breaker, creativity, self-expression, johari awareness)
Here's a really quick exercise, ideal for ice-breakers - 5-10 minutes - for groups any age or size.
Equipment: Lots of coins, in case participants need extra. (At last a use for all the shrapnel in your piggy bank..)
Instruction to group:
Take all the coins out of your pockets/purses and put them on the table in front of you.
(Lend coins to participants who have none or very few.)
You have one minute to make a personal logo - representing yourself - from the coins.
Variations:
Large groups can be spilt into teams (of 3-6 people). Combine team coins. Produce a single team logo, themed according to the situation. Optionally ask teams to guess the meaning of other teams logos, before the explanations.
Allow other pocket/purse/handbag items to be included in the logos, for example pens, phones, diaries, etc.
Ask the whole group to combine all coins and produce a logo for the organization/group/department, etc.
Split the group into two. Half leave the room while remaining half make their personal coin logos. Half return to room and try to match logos to people. Repeat the process enabling the guessers to make, and the makers to guess.
Review:
Ask participants to explain their logos to the group, or if pressed for time and for large groups - split the group and have the logos explained among teams of threes.
If running the exercise in teams - review the discussions and feelings leading to the design of the logo, and the team theme if appropriate.
To enlarge the exercise and offer material about self-and mutual awareness see the Johari Window model.
See the other coin exercises on this page, for example:
take-away game
tactical team shove-ha'penny
moneygram activity