Johari Window

I recently came across a concept I had used many years ago called the Johari Window. It specifies four quadrants, with the intersection of what we know about ourselves and what other know about us. In one dimension are two columns, What I know about myself and What I don’t know about myself. Two rows are What others know about me and What others don’t know about me. The intersection provides the four quadrants of:

-          Open – Known by me and others

-          Hidden – Known by me but not by others

-          Blind – Known by others but not by me

-          Unknown –Not known by me or by others

This provides a good model to learn more about ourselves with input from other people.

It can also be a good model for developing characters in fiction writing. Put together a list of what is Open, Hidden, Blind and Unknown about your protagonist and other key characters.

Have you heard about the Johari Window before or is it new to you?