One of the tools I have come to find quite helpful when I’m in the process of discerning which path to take, or question to explore, or practice to engage… basically when my way doesn’t seem clear I often spend some time gazing through the Johari Window.
As you may know, the Johari Window is a tool designed to help people better understand their relationship with themselves and others. It was created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham back in 1955, and is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.
Open Area – Known to Self & Others
| The “Open Area” or “Arena” is to represent and hold space for what is known by oneself and by others. Sometimes a person might even draw the four quadrants of the window, and in this window pane write in adjectives that both the subject and peers select go in this cell (or quadrant) of the grid. These are traits that subject and peers perceive. |
Blind Spot – Unknown to Self yet Known to Others
| The “Blind” area Adjectives not selected by subjects, but only by their peers go here. These represent what others perceive but the subject does not. |
Hidden Area –
| Façade Adjectives selected by the subject, but not by any of their peers, go in this quadrant. These are things the peers are either unaware of, or that are untrue but for the subject’s claim. |
Unknown
| Unknown Adjectives that neither subject nor peers selected go here. They represent subject’s behaviors or motives that no one participating recognizes—either because they do not apply or because of collective ignorance of these traits. |
Peace, dwight
Johari Window
