Maneuver Space: A View Through the Johari Window

Volume 2, Issue 2

If you served in the military no matter what branch of service you were in, you learned at some point the importance of having space to maneuver. Whether you were maneuvering pairs of boots, a tank, a ship, or a fighter jet, having adequate physical space was essential to executing maneuver smoothly and safely. Likewise, when we encounter challenges in life, our minds need maneuver space to mentally negotiate difficult moments. This series will highlight each month a different brief cognitive tool that you can use in your daily life to potentially create more maneuver space.  Remember having maneuver space, or space to think, is a gift in life. Once you create it, use it to your advantage!

A View Through the Johari Window

“There are known knowns… we also know there are unknown unknowns”, was a statement attributed to then U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during a briefing in February 2002 about linking Iraq with weapons of mass destruction.[1] In the military, there are many unknowns. Whole staffs are often employed with the sole purpose of giving a commander situational awareness about something not fully known so they can best decide a course of action. Our minds are also frequently challenged in life to discover the unknows. There are often things that are openly known to us, things that we are blind to, things that we hide from others, and things that are totally unknown to us. This can impact how we perceive something. The Johari Window is a model in psychology used to illustrate an individual’s perception of themselves and others. This model can be used to create more maneuver space in our minds and allow us to potentially better discover ourselves and understand others.

The Johari Window

The Johari Window was created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham while they were researching group dynamics and is often applied today in organizations to improve interpersonal dynamics. This model is based on two ideas: 1) Trust can be acquired by revealing information about yourself to others and 2) You can also learn from feedback from others. The Johari Window represents each person through four quadrants, or windowpanes. Each of the four windowpanes signifies personal information, feelings, motivation, and whether that information is known or unknown to oneself or others in four viewpoints.[2]

1. Open Area (Quadrant 1)

This is the area that represents everything you know about yourself, and that other people know about you. We are most comfortable in this area generally as it comes out as behavior, knowledge, or skills. We see it, know it, and others in the world similarly do also.

Example: ‘I am a good baseball player.’ Others on my team and in public see this and know it to be true also.

• Blind Area (Quadrant 2)

This is the area that represents things that you are unaware of about yourself but that others know about you. We are blind to these things. This area can be dangerous, especially if we are naive or are in denial about something. To help see in the dark we should potentially ask ourselves, ‘When I am in a blind zone, how do I see?’ Asking questions and being open to feedback can be our best allies here.

Example: ‘I am a great listener.’ This is what you think of yourself but then you find that others frequently observe and point out to you that you constantly speak over them and minimize their opinions. You become further aware of this by asking questions about how other people perceive you and are open to receiving their constructive feedback. You now have less of a blind spot and are further aware to listen more effectively when others are speaking.

• Hidden Area (Quadrant 3)

This is the area that represents things that you know about yourself but that you keep hidden from other people. This could be personal information about yourself, perhaps fears or insecurities. It can also be private thoughts about others that we may feel embarrassed sharing. This hidden area is also where we find ourselves sometimes wearing a mask and not being our genuine self or where we may also try to avoid or ignore things.

Example: ‘I would like to share about something personal to illustrate how I am feeling.” or “I have noticed that things you normally are passionate about don’t seem to make you happy anymore.” It takes courage and strength to venture into the hidden area. As humans, we don’t like to feel vulnerable. But there is significant trust in interpersonal relationships that we can build in the hidden area when we use self-disclosure and give constructive feedback to others.

• Unknown Area (Quadrant 4)

This is the area that represents things that are unknown to you and by others. This can be a large area in our lives sometimes, especially if we are resistant to self-discovery. This area also includes things we are not fully conscious about. Venturing into this area can be fearsome as it can sometimes be related to repressed traumas or self-judgements we have internalized from our developmental years and families of origin.

Example: “I always feel like a failure. Despite the successes I have had in life, I am still a failure.” How do we learn more about ourselves? Life experience and self-discovery can sometimes reveal things to us in this unknown area. Therapy can potentially be another way to unlock things from your unconscious you are unaware of and allow you to be more understanding and accepting of them. For some people, spirituality is a way they look for answers to existential questions in life. Others may look to learn and improve their knowledge about something from many different perspectives so that they can better gain acceptance of its presence in their life.

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Application of the Johari Window

The more you ask questions and share your thoughts, feelings, and constructive opinions, the more your open area expands. This shrinks your blind and hidden areas. Being open to discovery in multiple ways can further reveal things in the unknown area. When we embrace this in life, we can shine the light on both the known knowns and unknown unknowns. This ultimately creates more mental maneuver space allowing us to better discover ourselves and understand others.

About the Author: Mr. Bongioanni is a licensed mental health counselor who alsoworks for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He is also a senior leader in the U.S. Army Reserve. His professional interests include human behavior, applied psychology, and military cultural competence. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

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[1] Zak, D. (2021, July 1). ‘Nothing ever ends’: Sorting Through Rumsfeld’s Knowns and Unknowns. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/rumsfeld-dead-words-known-unknowns/2021/07/01/831175c2-d9df-11eb-bb9e-70fda8c37057_story.html.

[2] Dialectical Behavioral-Whole Person-Therapy Training Manual. The Wellness Effect Holistic Education Services. Version 1, January 2024, 16.

[3] Adapted from: ‘The Johari Window’, Mind Tools, Retrieved from: https://www.mindtools.com/au7v71d/the-johari-window, February 26^th, 2024.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.