The Johari Window

Abstract

In the 1950s large, complex and interdisciplinary projects started to emerge. It was therefore evident that new materials, methods and procedures had to be developed to ensure the success of these projects. This allowed for development of new concepts in the Socio-technical arena, which focused on the interdisciplinary project team and how to evolve and develop these teams effectively. In other words; the new complex and interdisciplinary projects paved the way for the soft skills and focus on behavior in individual and team development.

The Johari Window was developed by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram in 1955. It seeks to foster and improve self-awareness by providing the user with different perspectives in relation to context, and can be used on, but are not limited to, an individual or team level. In order for a person, or a team, to grow and mature, they must seek information from the outside in order to uncover their strength and weaknesses. This can for example be done either by comparing oneself to another person or team (individual level), or by comparing the team to other teams (teams level). When used and understood correctly, the Johari Window can help manage teams and individuals by creating an understanding of how they communicate, are perceived and present them self. For teams the Johari Window may result in a change of the group dynamic, as new information can be uncovered.

This article will start by introducing the reader to the history of the Johari Window, followed by an explanation of the four quadrants, and how these interplay with each other. The reader will then be introduced to ways of changing and broadening specific windows in order to become more self aware, and how to use the Johari Window for improving interdisciplinary teams. Lastly this article will provide the reader with different examples on the layout of the Johari Window and how to improve on these.

Background

The Johari Window was created by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram in 1961, and have since been interpreted and adapted for many different use cases. The name Johari comes from the two authors, how decided to name this model after them self (JOseph and HARrIngton). In 1961 Joseph Luft described the Johari Window as "a graphical model of awareness in interpersonal relations" . It was originally designed to promote self-awareness and foster communication for development. Since the Johari Windows first saw the light of day, it has, by some, been used to gain a deeper insight into the world around us by analyzing knowledge and assumptions rather than individuals.

The Four Quadrants

Figure 1. The Johari Window

The Johari Window consists of four quadrants;1) Arena, 2) Façade, 3) Blind Spot and 4) Unknown, which together illustrates the relationship of awareness. The four quadrants are categorised into a matrix system with two viewpoint: self and others, and two elements: known and unknown. The Johari Window is often depicted in a way, where all of the quadrant have the same size. In reality, this is not the case, as the quadrant can change in size according to the amount of knowledge it reflects. This will be covered in a later chapter.

Arena

Loft refers to the first quadrant as the area of free activity. As seen in the Figure 1 this quadrant refers to elements known to both the self and to others.

As this quadrant hold the information known to all members, it is also referred to as the known, Open Self/Area, Free Area and Public Area. This is quadrant where we are most effective when talking about team work and other collaborations. A team should therefore seek to develop an arena for each of its members to become more productive in their work.

Façade

This quadrant holds emotions, information, learnings, context and more which the person is aware of but have not yet shared with others. This is also why this part of the window is referred to as the hidden self, hidden area or avoided self. There may be many reasons why the person have not shared this information with others yet, such as trauma, fears, missing trust or the context in which the person and the group is operating .

Blind Spot

The Blind Spot is also referred to as the Blind Area and Blind Self. Loft defined the this quadrant as where others can see things in ourselves of which we are unaware. This is also known to be a sensitive quadrant to some people, as they themselves are not aware of what elements resides here, while the people around them are.

Unknown

The Unknown part of the window are defined as; Netiher the individual nor others are aware of certain behaviors or motives. Yet we can assume their existence because eventually some of these things become known, and it then realized that there unknown behaviors and motives were influencing relationships all along . In other words; even though the Unknown area is something we cannot see, nor explore, it can be assumed to exists as we know we can learn something new. Which is also why it is sometimes called the Mystery Arear. Examples of unknown elements are (but are not limited to); Unknown illness, natural ability which have not yet been uncovered and subconscious feelings.

Expanding the quadrants of the Johari Window

While some people or teams may be comfortable with the current layout of their Johari Window, it is important to evolve the window to ensure the continued growth of the team and/or person.

As mentioned above, the Arena is the part of the Johari Window, where both oneself and others are aware of the information. By having a larger Arena, teams and individuals will have a larger area of operation where they are productive.

It can be argued, that already established team members will have a larger Arena than new team members. This is due to the fact that this quadrant consists of elements known to both self and others. The Arena can be expanded if we share our knowledge with others, or others share their knowledge with us. By being an established member of a team, chances are that the members within the team have already shared their knowledge with each other, thus expanding this area. New team members may have a smaller Arena as they may not be known to the existing team members and do not possess knowledge of the current team. It is possible to expand the Arena, by limiting the space of the Blind Area. Luft referred to this as "I need to have your information about me". This is also known as feedback or as "Accepting the blind".

As research have shown that professionals are generally blind to their own mistakes, thus leading them to overestimating themselves and their performance and/or competencies, it is important to provide the feedback-receiver with outside insights. It can be difficult for others to make a person aware of his/her Blind Spot, as a politeness barrier may be a part of the culture of a working place or a team work. It is however important for both individuals and teams to explore their Blind Spot, as this area hides knowledge known by others, thus leading to ignorance which means that teams and individuals are not effective when operating within this area. The managers in the company or of the group therefor have a great responsibility in creating an open and understanding culture where employees and team members may provide others with feedback to decrease their Blind Spot. Some suggest that giving feedback training to the people involved may help foster this open and understanding culture. It is however important that the feedback training does not only focus on giving constructive feedback but are also focusing on receiving, accepting and using the feedback given. As it may be sensitive for some people to explore the Blind Spot within the Johari window, it is the managers responsibility that this is done in a manner, where the individuals involved feels safe and the feedback is not seen as a manner of attack.