LUFT AND INGRAM’S JOHARI WINDOWS
Use to appreciate how important self-discovery and shared discovery can be in increasing understanding and trust.
In the 1950s, two psychologists – Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram – developed a model for soliciting and giving feedback. The model is a 2 × 2 grid which represents things that a person knows about themselves on one axis and things that others know about them on the other axis. By plotting the levels of self-knowledge and the knowledge held by others the person can develop a greater understanding of their personality and how they are perceived by others.
Luft and Ingram designed a Characteristics Test that enables an individual to gauge the degree of things they know about themselves and to correlate this with the things their peers know about them. The responses can be mapped onto the grid to produce a window frame (usually with one predominant pane).
HOW TO USE IT
- Use this model to analyse how good you are at giving and receiving feedback. Start by constructing your own window frame. Do this by accessing Luft and Ingram’s Characteristics Test or any one of a number of online alternatives.
- Examine the good, the bad and the ugly. The larger the open pane is, the higher the level of communication, understanding and trust between you and your team members.
- If the open pane is not the largest, then take action to increase the size of it by discussing your thoughts more openly with others and soliciting their feedback.
- You also increase the size of the open pane by reducing the size of the others. Remember you cannot consciously change what you don’t know, so use self-discovery and shared discovery through giving and receiving feedback as a means of increasing openness, understanding and trust.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
- What’s preventing me from sharing my thoughts with other members of my team?
- How open are team members when talking to me about themselves?