What is the JOHARI Window and How To Use It
I mentioned in a previous Blog something called the JOHARI Window. I was first introduced to this as a junior officer in the Metropolitan Police in London in the early 1980s.
Although I was shown the concept at the time by a very forward-thinking and creative friend, I had no idea how I would use the information. I could not predict the benefits the Johari window would offer me in my law enforcement career. However, there were several occasions when it would prove invaluable in handling workplace relationship issues and resolving interpersonal conflicts.
The most significant benefit is developing TRUST in the workplace.
Concept Behind the JOHARI Window
The JOHARI Window was developed in the 1950s by two American psychologists Joseph Luft ad Harry Ingham who combined their first names to provide the title for the concept.
It’s a simple tool for understanding and training self-awareness, personal development, improving communications, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, and group development. If that list of benefits does not get you interested in learning more, then I have no idea what will!
The concept behind the JOHARI Window speaks to four very different aspects of our relationship with every person we know!
How to Use the JOHARI WINDOW
All four panes apply to every single one of our relationships in the workplace (or personal life).
The Open Pane describes what is known by the person about themselves and understood by others; therefore, it is information OPEN between them.
Using Phil as the example:
Something OPEN between you and me is that you know that I have been a police officer for 340 35 years since it is something that I have shared with you before and therefore is OPEN.
The Hidden Pane: describes what the person knows about themselves that others do not know – therefore, it is HIDDEN information. It might be information deliberately hidden (or undisclosed) or things that simply have not come up in conversation to that point.
Using Phil as the example:
Something HIDDEN between you and me is that you do not know that I am a fanatical Formula 1 racing fan! I have never been to a Formula 1 race before, but there is something about those race cars and the international venues that I find incredibly exciting. So, again, this information was in the HIDDEN pane – and now, after disclosure – lives in the OPEN.
The Blind Pane: describes the information that is unknown by the person about themselves but which others know – and therefore, it is information to which the individual is blind.
Using Phil as the example:
Let’s say that when I am at work, I am always cracking jokes. I think that they are funny jokes. I don’t joke about myself; I joke about other people. Because people don’t tell me that they don’t like my jokes, the message that their silence sends to me is that they DO like them….so I continue telling them!
No one tells me about their negative impact, so I am, in fact, BLIND of my jokes’ effect in the workplace. When someone speaks to me about my jokes’ impact on others, it moves that piece of information from the BLIND Pane to the Open Pane.
The Unknown Pane: This describes the information that is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by others.
You may be wondering what on earth this could be. What could be unknown to me and everyone else at the same time?
Let’s use the poor chap Phil again as an example:
The UNKNOWN Pane describes information in our relationship of which neither of us is aware. For instance, when I first became a police officer in Canada, I had to be trained to use a handgun. (Something I had never done in eight years as a police officer in England.)
I thought I would be comfortable with the idea; however, come to find out, I was mentally unprepared. When I fired a gun, I had no actual concept of what I would experience. Neither did my colleagues. Until it happened, it was UNKNOWN between me and everyone else. Afterward, sharing the event opened the information about my ability to use the handgun between my colleagues and me. (Let’s say I can shoot, but they’ll never let me anywhere near the SWAT Team! )
Explore For Yourself
I urge you to explore the JOHARI Window!
You will recognize that these four panes in every relationship you have. The more we talk and listen to each other, that information will move from the HIDDEN, BLIND and UNKNOWN panes into the OPEN PANE.
In the OPEN Pane, we get to know more about each other. We learn about how and why we function the way that we do.
The more we know about one another, the easier it is to appreciate our differences. We develop TRUST in our relationships through the vulnerability of openness.
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