Parting Thoughts...

M. Terese Verklan, PhD, CCNS, RNC

Johari Window
A Model for Communicating to Each Other
W
hat is she thinking? I cant believe he just did
that! What do you mean, I was rude in the
meeting? Sound familiar? You have likely used these
phrases once or twice yourself! It is all about the pro-
cess of human interaction. We are not always aware of
how we look to others, because we do not have abso-
lute knowledge of our own selves. A Johari Window
can be used to increase your personal awareness as
well as that of your coworkers.
1
The model divides per-
sonal awareness into 4 types that can be represented by
a window divided into 4 quadrantsopen, blind, hid-
den, and unknown. The boundary lines between the
quadrants can be thought of as curtains, in which the
shade can be open or drawn, wide or narrow, as per-
sonal interaction progresses (Fig 1).
The open quadrant corresponds to things that ev-
eryone, including me, knows about me. In the neonatal
intensive care unit, everyone knows that I am a neona-
tal clinical nurse specialist who likes a thorough report
on her patient assignments, values punctuality, and has
respect for peoples time. In addition to factual informa-
tion, you also know my likes, dislikes, goals, attitudes,
emotions, in essence, lots of information that makes
up Terese. Thus, those who know me well would have
a wide window with the curtain drawn up, whereas
those who did not knowme would have a much smaller
view inside. The curtain can go up or down as we
interact. In a give and take situation, I personally dis-
close something to you, and you reciprocate by sharing
something with me that was in your hiddencategory.
The hiddenquadrant contains things I know about,
but am keeping from others. A family members ill-
ness, household repairs, or a holiday trip would not
fall lightly into the conversation unless someone knew
enough about me to ask. While it is no secret that my
Jack Russell is my sonand I love to pretend at gourmet
cooking with my friends, the information is not yet
known to you. Well, now it is! Self-disclosure increases
with interaction, such that there is the potential to re-
ally learn a lot about where I grew up, family values,
and what experiences I have had that shaped the per-
son I am today. As soon as you learn something about
me, this window becomes smaller and the openwin-
dow gets larger.
The blindquadrant represents things I do not know
about me, but you do. For example, I have a very bad
habit of sighing when I am boredmy mother tells me
I have done this since I was a child. But I do not know
that I am actually doing it and someone may think I am
frustrated with her or him. Anewhire is 45 minutes late
to a meeting and is constantly interrupting the meeting
to speed up. I answer his queries with brief responses
and get back to where the meeting was since the time-
line is tight. He tells you later how rude I was because
he saw my furrowed brow, noted the quick short re-
sponses to his questions, and thought that I was dis-
missing him totally by returning to the agenda. You tell
the new hire that I may appear to be abrupt because I
run a meeting on time, out of respect for people already
present, which is one of the reasons I was assigned
to be the project leader. Thus, you are providing the
new person with something that you know about me,
which is hidden from him. As a colleague, it may help
future interactions if you tell me about these blindbe-
haviors others see that I have no awareness of. To do
so requires tremendous trust on your part; however, by
teaching me more about myself, you are fostering my
growth and awareness.
The unknown quadrant contains information re-
garding behaviors, feelings, and beliefs that neither of
us knows about each other. How will the new nurse
function with her first critical neonatal admission? Her
or his first code? Being on transport when the ambu-
lance gets into an accident? There are a lot of situa-
tions that bring out the strengths and weaknesses in
each other. Recognition of these novel characteristics
moves the information from the unknown to the open,
hidden, or blind window, depending on how we each
recognize the behavior. For example, I know that I am
an adrenaline jockeyone of those nurses who like
173
174 Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing/AprilJune 2007
Known to Unknown to
self self
Known to others Open Blind
Unknown to others Hidden Unknown
Figure 1. Johari Window.
1
babies with labile conditions. Someone may keep infor-
mation in their hiddenwindowthat they get flustered
with critically ill babies and prefer to nurse the stable
premature baby. Assigning this person the baby about
to go on ECMO may precipitate a crisis wherein the
nurse gets flustered, does not perform well with clini-
cal skills, forgets to do routine laboatory work, and has
difficulty interacting with colleagues on the shift, all in
all, a lose-lose situation.
Most of us try to communicate using only the open
window, and forget about the body language and the
importance of eye contact and communication styles.
By keeping feelings or thoughts hidden,we may send
out mixed or faulty communication that others criticize
because it is unorganized or just does not make sense
in the big picture. If the person has healthy self-esteem,
she or he may respond to your message in a way that
reveals something that was in your blind window. If
you are open to constructive criticism, you move the
information to your open window and a healthy in-
teraction can move forward. If you are not open to
the message, defense mechanisms such as denial, re-
jection, or ambivalence may be used, and the person
attempting to clarify the message is pushed away. All of
us have different communication styles, temperaments,
and personal stressors we try to keep out of our profes-
sional life. But we still carry all of ourselves wherever
we go.
The next time you hear That nurse is so hard
to get along with or you observe a situation devel-
oping between interested parties, try to place each
person within a window and see where the curtain
falls.
M. Terese Verklan, PhD, CCNS, RNC
Associate Professor and Neonatal Clinical
Nurse Specialist
School of Nursing
University of Texas Health Science Center
Houston, Tex
REFERENCE
1. Luft J. Of Human Interaction. Palo Alto, Calif: National
Press; 1969.