A Johari window is a cognitive psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry

Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their
interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups
and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise

Johari Window
Known to Self Not Known to Self

Known to Others

Not Known to Others

The Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry
Ingham, is one of the most useful models describing the process of human interaction. A
four paned "window," as illustrated above, divides personal awareness into four different
types, as represented by its four quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and unknown. The lines
dividing the four panes are like window shades, which can move as an interaction
progresses.

In this model, each person is represented by their own window. Let's describe mine:

1. The "open" quadrant represents things that both I know about myself, and that you
know about me. For example, I know my name, and so do you, and if you have explored
some of my website, you know some of my interests. The knowledge that the window
represents, can include not only factual information, but my feelings, motives, behaviors,
wants, needs and desires... indeed, any information describing who I am. When I first
meet a new person, the size of the opening of this first quadrant is not very large, since
there has been little time to exchange information. As the process of getting to know one
another continues, the window shades move down or to the right, placing more
information into the open window, as described below.

2. The "blind" quadrant represents things that you know about me, but that I am unaware
of. So, for example, we could be eating at a restaurant, and I may have unknowingly
gotten some food on my face. This information is in my blind quadrant because you can
see it, but I cannot. If you now tell me that I have something on my face, then the window
shade moves to the right, enlarging the open quadrant's area. Now, I may also have
blindspots with respect to many other much more complex things. For example, perhaps
in our ongoing conversation, you may notice that eye contact seems to be lacking. You
may not say anything, since you may not want to embarrass me, or you may draw your
own inferences that perhaps I am being insincere. Then the problem is, how can I get this
information out in the open, since it may be affecting the level of trust that is developing
between us? How can I learn more about myself? Unfortunately, there is no readily
available answer. I may notice a slight hesitation on your part, and perhaps this may lead
to a question. But who knows if I will pick this up, or if your answer will be on the mark.

3. The "hidden" quadrant represents things that I know about myself, that you do not
know. So for example, I have not told you, nor mentioned anywhere on my website, what
one of my favorite ice cream flavors is. This information is in my "hidden" quadrant. As
soon as I tell you that I love "Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia" flavored ice cream, I am
effectively pulling the window shade down, moving the information in my hidden
quadrant and enlarging the open quadrant's area. Again, there are vast amounts of
information, virtually my whole life's story, that has yet to be revealed to you. As we get
to know and trust each other, I will then feel more comfortable disclosing more intimate
details about myself. This process is called: "Self-disclosure."
4. The "unknown" quadrant represents things that neither I know about myself, nor you
know about me. For example, I may disclose a dream that I had, and as we both attempt
to understand its significance, a new awareness may emerge, known to neither of us
before the conversation took place. Being placed in new situations often reveal new
information not previously known to self or others. For example, I learned of the Johari
window at a workshop conducted by a Japanese American psychiatrist in the early
1980's. During this workshop, he created a safe atmosphere of care and trust between the
various participants. Usually, I am terrified of speaking in public, but I was surprised to
learn that in such an atmosphere, the task need not be so daunting. Prior to this event, I
had viewed myself and others had also viewed me as being extremely shy. (The above
now reminds me of a funny joke, which I cannot refrain from telling you. It is said that
the number one fear that people have is speaking in public. Their number two fear is
dying. And the number three fear that people have, is dying while speaking in public.)
Thus, a novel situation can trigger new awareness and personal growth. The process of
moving previously unknown information into the open quadrant, thus enlarging its area,
has been likened to Maslow's concept of self-actualization. The process can also be
viewed as a game, where the open quadrant is synonymous with the win-win situation.

Much, much more has been written on the Johari window model of human interaction.
The process of enlarging the open quadrant is called self-disclosure, a give and take
process between me and the people I interact with. Typically, as I share something about
myself (moving information from my hidden quadrant into the open) and if the other
party is interested in getting to know me, they will reciprocate, by similarly disclosing
information in their hidden quadrant. Thus, an interaction between two parties can be
modeled dynamically as two active Johari windows. For example, you may respond to
my disclosure that I like "Cherry Garcia" by letting me know what your favorite ice
cream is, or where a new ice cream shop is being built, kinds of information in your
hidden quadrant. Incidentally, it is fattening, so be careful on how much you eat!

We believe disclosure to be healthy, at least that's the impression one gets after reading
Freud. However, Anita Kelly recently wrote that self-disclosure of personal secrets has its
dangers. We are often better off not telling secrets regarding our sexual behavior, mental
health problems or large-scale failures. "If you give people information about yourself,
you give them power over you," she says. Monica Lewinsky's disclosure to Linda Tripp
and the ensuing scandal that enveloped President Clinton is a case in point. Be
forewarned that most secrets get passed along to at least two more parties. People also
misjudge how others respond to secrets. Sometimes you get negative feedback. For
example, a women who reveals that she was raped may be seen in the future as a victim,
or by men as damaged goods. Now, if you must tell your secret to someone, chose that
person very carefully. Chose someone whose response will give you some insight into
your problem. Unfortunately, such a person is often hard to find. So if you cannot find
anyone appropriate, consider this: that keeping secrets is healthy and tasteful, because it
is a way of managing your identity, and indicates you are secure and have self-control.
But it takes energy, because you have to be on constant guard not to accidentally reveal
something that is potentially damaging.

As ones level of confidence and self esteem develops, one may actively invite others to
comment on one's blind spots. A teacher may seek feedback from students on the quality
of a particular lecture, with the desire of improving the presentation. Active listening
skills are helpful in this endeavor. On the other hand, we all have defenses, protecting the
parts of ourselves that we feel vulnerable. Remember, the blind quadrant contains
behavior, feelings and motivations not accessible to the person, but which others can see.
Feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, impotence, unworthiness, rejection, guilt,
dependency, ambivalence for loved ones, needs to control and manipulate, are all
difficult to face, and yet can be seen by others. To forcibly reveal what another wishes
not to see, is "psychological rape," and can be traumatic. Fortunately, nature has provided
us with a variety of defense mechanisms to cope with such events, such as denial,
ignoring, rationalizing, etc.

The Johari window, essentially being a model for communication, can also reveal
difficulties in this area. In Johari terms, two people attempt to communicate via the open
quadrants. On the simplest level, difficulties may arise due to a lack of clarity in the
interaction, such as poor grammar or choice of words, unorganized thoughts, faulty logic
etc. This induces the receiver to criticize you, the sender, by revealing something that was
in your blind quadrant. Then, if the feedback works, you correct it immediately, or
perhaps on a more long term approach take a course in reading and writing. On a deeper
level, you may be in a group meeting, and while you secretly sympathize with the
minority viewpoint, you voted with the majority. However, blind to you, you actually
may be communicating this information via body language, in conflict with your verbal
message. On an even deeper level, you in an interaction with others, may always put on a
smiling, happy face, hiding all negative feelings. By withholding negative feelings, you
may be signaling to your friends to withhold also, and keep their distance. Thus, your
communication style may seem bland or distant.

Transactional analysis or TA is a branch of psychotherapy developed by

Eric Berne. His definition of it is “a theory of personality and a systematic
psychotherapy for personal growth and change”.

Knowing about TA can be very useful for improving our communication skills.
TA is about how people are structured psychologically and is both a theory
of communication and a theory of child development

Berne's Three Ego States

In addition to the analysis of the interactions between individuals, Transactional Analysis

also involves the identification of the ego states behind each and every transaction.
Berne defined an ego state as "a consistent pattern of feeling and experience directly
related to a corresponding consistent pattern of behavior

Berne ultimately defined the three ego states as: Parent, Adult, and Child

The following are detailed descriptions of the three ego states:

Parent - The parent represents a massive collection of recordings in the brain of external
events experienced or perceived in approximately the first five years of life. Since the
majority of the external events experienced by a child are actions of the parent, the ego
state was appropriately called Parent. Note that events perceived by the child from
individuals that are NOT parents (but who are often in parent-like roles) are also recorded
in the Parent. When Transactional Analysts refer to the Parent ego state (as opposed to a
biological or stepparent), it is capitalized. The same goes for the other two state (Adult
and Child)

Examples of recordings in the Adult include:

• "Never talk to strangers"

• "Always chew with your mouth closed"
• "Look both ways before you cross the street

Child - In contrast to the Parent, the Child represents the recordings in the brain of
internal events associated with external events the child perceives. Stated another way,
stored in the Child are the emotions or feelings which accompanied external events. Like
the Parent, recordings in the Child occur from childbirth all the way up to the age of
approximately 5 years old.

Examples of recordings in the Child include:

• "When I saw the monster's face, I felt really scared"

• "The clown at the birthday party was really funny!
Adult - The Adult is the last ego state. Close to one year of age, a child begins to exhibit
gross motor activity. The child learns that he or she can control a cup from which to
drink, that he or she can grab a toy. In social settings, the child can play peek-a-boo.

This is the beginning of the Adult in the small child. Adult data grows out of the child's
ability to see what is different than what he or she observed (Parent) or felt (Child). In
other words, the Adult allows the young person to evaluate and validate Child and
Parental data. Berne describes the Adult as being "principally concerned with
transforming stimuli into pieces of information, and processing and filing that
information on the basis of previous experience"6 Stated another way, Harris describes
the Adult as "a data-processing computer, which grinds out decisions after computing the
information from three sources: the Parent, the Child, and the data which the adult has
gathered and is gathering"7

Analyzing Transactions

When two people communicate, one person initiates a transaction with the transactional
stimulus (see the above Transactions Defined section for a definition of the transaction
stimulus). The person at whom the stimulus is directed will respond with the
transactional response. Simple Transactional Analysis involves identifying which ego
state directed the stimulus and which ego state in the other person executed the response.

According to Dr. Berne, the simplest transactions are between Adults ego states. For
example, a surgeon will survey the patient, and based upon the data before him/her,
his/her Adult decides that the scalpel is the next instrument required. The surgeon's
Adult holds out his/her hand, providing the transactional stimulus to the nurse. The
nurse's Adult looks at the hand, and based upon previous experiences, concludes that the
scalpel is needed. The nurse then places the scalpel in the surgeon's hand.

But not all transactions proceed in this manner. Some transactions involve ego states
other than the Adult.

This leads us to Parent - Child transactions, which are almost as simple as Adult-Adult

transactions. Quoting Dr. Berne in Games People Play: "The fevered child asks for a glass

of water, and the nurturing mother brings it."8 In this, the Child of small child directs an

inquiry to the Parent of his/her mother. The Parent of the mother acknowledges this stimuli,

gives the water to the child. In this example, the small child's request is the stimuli, and the

parent providing the water is the response.

One of the tools used by a TA practitioner is a structural diagram, as represented on the left.
structural diagram represents the complete personality of any individual. It includes the Pare
and Child ego states, all separate and distinct from each other.
Transactional Analysts will then construct a diagram
showing the ego states involved in a particular
transaction. The transaction to the right shows a Parent
- Child transaction, with the Child ego state providing
the transactional stimulus, and the Adult responding
with the transactional response.

This transaction matches the Parent - Child example

listed above, with the fevered child asking his/her
mother for a glass of water.

So far, the two transactions described can be considered complementary transactions.

In a complementary transaction, the response must go back from the receiving ego state
to the sending ego state. For example, a person may initiate a transaction directed
towards one ego state of the respondent. The respondent's ego state detects the stimuli,
and then that particular ego state (meaning the ego state to which the stimuli was
directed) produces a response. According to Dr. Berne, these transactions are healthy and
represent normal human interactions. As Berne says in Games People Play
"communication will proceed as long as transactions are complementary."9

However, not all transactions between humans are

healthy or normal. In those cases, the transaction
is classified as a crossed transaction. In a
crossed transaction, an ego state different than the
ego state which received the stimuli is the one that
responds. The diagram to the right shows a
typical crossed transaction. An example is as
follows:

Agent's Adult: "Do you know where my cuff

links are?" (note that this stimuli is directed at the
Respondents Adult).Respondent's Child: "You
always blame me for everything!"10

This is one the classic crossed transactions that

occurs in marriage. Instead of the Respondent's
Adult responding with "I think they're on the
desk", it is the Respondent's Child that responds
back.

It is important to note that when analyzing transactions, one must look beyond what is
being said. According to Dr. Berne, one must look at how the words are being delivered
(accents on particular words, changes in tone, volume, etc.) as the non-verbal signs
accompanying those words (body language, facial expressions, etc.). Transactional
Analysts will pay attention to all of these cues when analyzing a transaction and
identifying which ego states are involved

SWOT Analysis: Lesson

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT).
SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first
stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses
are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors
At the bottom of this page are FREE SWOT examples - so please read on.

In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. For

example:A strength could be:

• Your specialist marketing expertise.

• A new, innovative product or service.
• Location of your business.
• Quality processes and procedures.
 • Any other aspect of your business that adds value to your
product or service.

A weakness could be:

• Lack of marketing expertise.

• Undifferentiated products or services (i.e. in relation to
your competitors).
• Location of your business.
• Poor quality goods or services.
• Damaged reputation.

In SWOT, opportunities and threats are external factors. For

example: An opportunity could be:

• A developing market such as the Internet.

• Mergers, joint ventures or strategic alliances.
• Moving into new market segments that offer improved
profits.
• A new international market.
• A market vacated by an ineffective competitor.

A threat could be:

• A new competitor in your home market.

• Price wars with competitors.
• A competitor has a new, innovative product or service.
• Competitors have superior access to channels of
distribution.
• Taxation is introduced on your product or service.

A word of caution, SWOT analysis can be very subjective. Do not rely on SWOT too
much. Two people rarely come-up with the same final version of SWOT. TOWS
analysis is extremely similar. It simply looks at the negative factors first in order to
turn them into positive factors. So use SWOT as guide and not a prescription.
Simple rules for successful SWOT analysis.

• Be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of your

organization when conducting SWOT analysis.
• SWOT analysis should distinguish between where your
organization is today, and where it could be in the future.
• SWOT should always be specific. Avoid grey areas.
• Always apply SWOT in relation to your competition i.e.
better than or worse than your competition.
• Keep your SWOT short and simple. Avoid complexity and
over analysis
• SWOT is subjective.

Once key issues have been identified with your SWOT analysis, they feed into
marketing objectives. SWOT can be used in conjunction with other tools for audit and
analysis, such as PEST analysis and Porter's Five-Forces analysis. So SWOT is a very
popular tool with marketing students because it is quick and easy to learn. During the
SWOT exercise, list factors in the relevant boxes. It's that simple. Below are some
FREE examples of SWOT analysis - click to go straight to them
SWOT Analysis Examples
A summary of FREE SWOT analyses case studies are outlined as follows

Bharti Airtel SWOT Analysis. Weaknesses - An often cited original

weakness is that when the business was started by Sunil Bharti Mittal
over 15 years ago, the business has little knowledge and experience
of how a cellular telephone system actually worked. So the start-up
business had to outsource to industry experts in the field