Two psychologists drew four panes of glass to show what we know about ourselves — and what everyone else can see but we can't.
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Easier version: read this lesson at A2/B1 level →
Ten items. Say your answer out loud before you reveal it.
Read the sentence, guess the meaning of the word in bold, then reveal.
The three words are: blind spot · insight · vulnerable. Read each meaning, say the word, then reveal.
One missing word fits every phrase in the group. Say it, then reveal.
Read each part. After it, answer the quick check from memory, then discuss one question.
In the years after the Second World War, American psychologists became fascinated by groups. How do strangers become a team? Why do some groups work well while others fall apart?
In 1946, a psychologist named Kurt Lewin ran a workshop in Connecticut. In the evenings, his researchers discussed what they had seen during the day. One night, some of the participants asked to listen — and were surprised by what the researchers had noticed about them. Hearing how others saw them turned out to be one of the most powerful parts of the whole workshop. A year later, a training centre for this kind of group learning opened in Maine, and similar summer workshops soon appeared across the country.
One of them was held in California by the University of California, Los Angeles. Two psychologists who worked there, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, were trying to explain to participants what happened when people gave each other honest feedback. They needed a simple picture.
1. What were psychologists fascinated by after the war?
2. What surprised the participants at Lewin's workshop?
3. What problem were Luft and Ingham trying to solve?
1. Groups — how strangers become teams and why some groups work while others fail.
2. What the researchers had noticed about them — hearing how others saw them was very powerful.
3. They needed a simple way to explain what happens when people give each other honest feedback.
In 1955, Luft and Ingham presented their picture: a window with four panes. It was built from two simple questions. Do I know this about myself? Do other people know it?
The open pane holds what everyone knows — your job, your sense of humour. The hidden pane holds what you know but keep private — your fears, your façade. The blind pane holds what others see but you don't — the way you interrupt, or look bored when you are only thinking. And the unknown pane holds what nobody knows yet — a talent never tested, a reaction you have never had the chance to show.
They needed a name, so they combined their own first names: Joe and Hari, from Harry. The result, “Johari”, sounds almost like a word from another language, and many people still assume it is. Luft later wrote that he and Ingham were surprised by how quickly people, both experts and ordinary readers, began using the model and changing it.
1. What two questions build the window?
2. Which pane holds things that other people see but you don't?
3. Where does the name “Johari” come from?
1. Do I know this about myself? Do other people know it?
2. The blind pane (the blind spot).
3. From the first names of its creators: Joe (Luft) and Harry (Ingham).
The window's main message is that the open pane can grow. It grows in two directions. When you disclose something about yourself, the hidden pane gets smaller. When you ask for feedback — and really listen — the blind pane gets smaller. As people trust each other more, the open pane becomes larger, and teams usually work better.
Today, the window is used in nursing schools, teacher training, leadership courses and counselling. A popular exercise gives people a list of 56 adjectives — kind, nervous, clever, patient… Each person picks five or six that describe themselves, and their colleagues pick five or six for them. Words chosen by both go in the open pane. Words chosen only by colleagues go in the blind pane. It can be a moment of real insight.
The model has critics. It is a way of thinking, not a scientific test. Disclosing too much can make people vulnerable, and in many cultures, private life is meant to stay private. Honest feedback can hurt as well as help. Still, the idea has travelled far — decades later, the American politician Donald Rumsfeld became famous for talking about “unknown unknowns”, which sounds a lot like Joe and Harry's fourth pane.
1. What are the two ways to make the open pane bigger?
2. In the adjective exercise, which words go in the blind pane?
3. Give one criticism of the model.
1. Disclose information about yourself, and ask for (and listen to) feedback.
2. Words that colleagues chose for you but that you didn't choose for yourself.
3. Any one: it isn't a scientific test; disclosing too much can make people vulnerable; privacy matters in many cultures; feedback can hurt.
Two questions build four panes. Across the bottom: do I know this about myself? Up the side: do others know it? The aim is to make the open pane larger — by disclosing, and by asking for feedback.
Which pane of the window does each example belong in? Choose, then check.
1. Blind — others know it; you don't.
2. Hidden — you know it; others don't.
3. Unknown — nobody knows it yet.
4. Open — known to you and to others.
5. Blind — others saw it first — until they told you.
6. Hidden — you know it, and you keep it private.
Not a scientific test. It's a picture that helps people talk, not a measurement.
Sharing has limits. In many cultures and workplaces, keeping private things private is healthy, not a problem to fix.
Feedback depends on the giver. A “blind spot” may be real — or just one colleague's opinion.
The Johari Window is about impressions — how we seem to others. English has a set of verbs just for this, and each has its own pattern.
Write one word in each gap.
1. In interviews, Marco comes as very confident, but he's actually quite nervous.
2. You look as you haven't slept for a week.
3. The printer appears be broken again.
4. From a distance, the old factory looks a church.
5. She seems to forgotten our meeting — she hasn't arrived.
1. across
2. if (or though)
3. to
4. like
5. have
Keep the meaning. Write the new sentence.
1. Apparently the train is late. (seems) →
2. My brother gives the impression of being lazy. (comes) →
3. It seems that he has left early. (appears) → He
4. Anna seems unhappy from her face. (looks) →
1. The train seems to be late.
2. My brother comes across as lazy.
3. He appears to have left early.
4. Anna looks unhappy.
Now describe how you think you come across to people who meet you for the first time — and whether that is the real you.
Use the window on yourself. Choose a task, start the timer, and talk. Use the impression verbs from the grammar tab.
Give one thing from each pane of your own window — or, for the unknown pane, something you would like to discover.
How do you come across when people first meet you? When did a first impression — yours or someone else's — turn out to be wrong?
How would you ask someone for honest feedback so that they feel safe to give it?