Starting last October, I’ve been teaching a 3-month program through the On Conflict Leadership Institute, called LEAP for Collaborative Leaders. Its ambition is to equip leaders who are already collaborative with the mindset and tools to build their own conflict competent culture.
It’s a big vision, and I’m incredibly excited to report that the 9 leaders who signed up for this inaugural voyage, are stimulated, inspired, and passionate about the topic of collaboration as a way to make lives better.
One question that arose recently from this group is:
How do you increase self-awareness?
This can be our own self-awareness, and also – who hasn’t had the thought they wished someone else was more self-aware!
I shared a concept I first came across while teaching the 3-day course Foundations of Collaborative Conflict Resolution, for the Justice Institute of BC’s Centre for Conflict Resolution.
This powerful concept is the Johari window – and I believe if leaders, teams and groups understood what it was, there would be much more room for conversations about self-awareness. In fact, the Johari window is at the heart of building a culture that values feedback. Feedback that is given and received in a spirit of acceptance and collaboration can maximize innovation, creativity and problem-solving.
What is the Johari Window?
The Johari window is a communication theory devised by a pair of psychologists studying how people in groups interact. Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham combined their first names to create the Johari window. They created a visual framework to improve interpersonal communication.
The visual framework explains how the Self is constructed and perceived and it is made up of four quadrants to represent these four ways we are seen. There is the area self we share with others, and the areas we keep hidden from others. Fairly straightforward.
Where it gets interesting is the other two quadrants: there is the area that others see and we don’t see. Think about that one for a second! Others see things in us we may not see, and not everyone is telling! Some of their perceptions may not be helpful and sometimes it can be very helpful.
The last quadrant is the area that is unknown to both ourselves and to others. This area represents our potential to be discovered.
The tool offers opportunities for feedback and discussion, aiming to enhance group dynamics. Here’s a summary of the model – it’s quite simple really but profound at the same time.
The Four Quadrants of the Johari Window Summarized:
- “Open” (things known by self and others),
- “Blind” (things known by others but unknown by self),
- “Hidden / Facade” (things known by self but unknown by others), and
- “Unknown” (things not known by either self or others).
Here is the visual representation:
Benefits
One immediate benefit of everyone knowing about this simple model of group dynamics is it quickly dispels the mistaken belief that we already know everything we need to know.
We clearly don’t.
The model is based on the premise that communication and trust in a team are enhanced when people are open and disclose important information about themselves and how they work.
It also shows the need for people to actively seek feedback from each other on their work.
Instead of assuming we know what others think, the Johari window promotes a curiosity about each other and the value of understanding diverse perspectives. It encourages empathy and active listening, enabling leaders and teams to foster stronger relationships.
These are the kind of ideas that could be seeded (and even grow) – simply by sharing this collaboration tool.
Johari Can Reveal Intentions and Impact
The Johari window is especially important in the hidden realms of intention and impact.
Our intentions are hidden from others unless we reveal them. So, we could intend to do something positive, like buy someone a present. That seems like a nice thing to do!
But if relations are tense, misinterpretations are more likely to happen. Your intention might be to offer a present as a gesture of goodwill, yet our intentions are hidden unless explicitly stated.
Even if we clearly express our intentions, the other person has their own lens through which they are interpreting our actions. How they interpret our actions determines, often times, how they are impacted by our actions.
Here’s the rub: the impact of someone’s behaviour is also hidden unless revealed by the person who is impacted.
So, in the case of you giving someone a present as a trust deposit, that present could easily be interpreted as an insult by the recipient if there’s not been a lot of trust until then (Why did you get me that present? What are you trying to tell me!).
Both perspectives are understandable from a limited perspective – without enough information!. Each perspective remains hidden to the other unless they communicate in both directions.
Create a Bigger Story
That’s why it’s so important to have open communication about both intentions and the impact. And the Johari window gives you the reasoning as to why that’s important. We need multiple perspectives.
Only then can the missing pieces of information be revealed to create a new, mutual story – a more comprehensive story that makes sense to both parties. Sharing perspectives takes into account information that was missing, that only that person knew.
Without sharing both intentions and impacts, sometimes repeatedly, we not only lose the opportunity to learn about each other, but we also lose the opportunity to dispel assumptions. Assumptions live in those unexpressed intentions and impacts.
We need open communication to dispel them. Otherwise, we create our narrow story, and then our support networks support our version of the story, further reinforcing our own perspectives. And, that’s because our supporters also did not have the missing information.
Fundamentally, the Johari window is based on two ideas:
- trust can be built by revealing information about yourself to others, and
- learning about yourself from feedback, is imperative for a growth mindset and healthy team dynamics.
I hope you can feel the power inherent in this tool. Now, go share this with someone and see what conversations ensue!
With compassion,
