Many who attend communication workshops are familiar with the Johari Window—a simple 2×2 model that maps what we know (and do not know) about ourselves against what others know (and do not know) about us. Traditionally, it encourages us to explore the undiscovered parts of our identity, sometimes even hinting at the realm of the unconscious when others notice what we overlook.
While most practitioners use the Johari Window to improve one-on-one relationships, there is a richer, more philosophical interpretation when we consider the dynamics of groups as living organisms. In my reimagined version, the quadrants are not simply probes into interpersonal transparency, but signifiers of our potential contributions to a greater whole:
- Known Knowns: These are the skills and traits you readily recognize in yourself—areas where you naturally excel. They reflect your drive for power and mastery and immediately demonstrate your value to any team or collective endeavor.
- Unknown Knowns: Constituting latent strengths, these are qualities or talents you possess yet have not come to fully appreciate until someone else brings them to light. Built on the foundation of affiliation, these hidden gifts hold the promise of transformative future contributions when nurtured.
- Supposed Knowns (That You Don’t Truly Know): Perhaps the most treacherous quadrant, these are the aspects you believe you understand but, in reality, may be distorted or incomplete. Such misconceptions can derail group efforts by misaligning your drive away from genuine, functional contribution—interrupting the path from vision to accomplishment.
- Unknown Unknowns: Here lies the most mysterious domain—the areas of potential insight that you are wholly unaware of. This quadrant holds the capacity for both belief and transformation: you might mistakenly think you lack knowledge simply because you’ve lost the thread or misnamed it. Yet, uncovering these hidden areas can reshape the way you relate to both yourself and the collective.
The journey through these windows is more than an exercise in self-awareness; it is a key to unlocking what lies beyond the immediate horizon of individual identity. Just as one examines fractals to glimpse sublime patterns in chaos, so too does delving into these dimensions offer the potential for enlightenment.
There is further subtlety when we consider the mysteries of things we believe we do not know. Far from being mystical, this idea simply recasts the original Johari concept—developed back in 1955 by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham—as a challenge to our assumptions. We ask two fundamental questions about our “unknown unknowns”: Do they impact our lives? And do we have a means of accessing them for our benefit?
Let us briefly view these “mysteries” as their own window:
- Trivial Mysteries: Questions that have little to no consequence—such as whether popcorn might exist beyond our solar system. While entertaining in certain settings, these puzzles distract us from more pressing challenges.
- Potentially Crucial Mysteries: These are topics that have yet to capture our collective curiosity simply because they have not yet emerged as problems in our lifetime. Science fiction often toys with such ideas—what if apes turned the tables and put humans in zoos?
- Ignorable Mysteries: Those that affect us insignificantly and remain beyond our reach. They deserve little mental real estate when confronted with real human challenges.
- Accessible, Impactful Mysteries: Here lie the issues that, if explored, could positively affect our lives. This realm touches on fields like Noetic Science (a term popularized by astronaut Edgar Mitchell, and sometimes referred to as “woo-woo” by those of little faith) and promises insights that may well lead to the next evolution in understanding consciousness.
At a certain point, as we peer through these progressively darker windows, we must pause and ask: Does increased clarity improve our lives—or will we forever remain, as the Hebrew scholars or St. Paul might suggest, awaiting a transformative moment? Perhaps the answer lies in the larger picture: a window that expands to offer not just dual choices, but multiple pathways.
When confronted with mystery, one encounters a basic decision: to act or refrain from acting. Yet the more profound challenge is how to embrace that decision. Do we choose to question, to act, or to simply believe? Each option comes with its own consequences:
- To Question: In pursuing inquiry, you commit to transformation—even at the cost of alienating those unwilling to accept change. The process is often fraught with pain as entrenched beliefs are challenged.
- To Act: Embracing action can liberate you from conventional constraints, though without like-minded souls, this unbounded effort may eventually lead to burnout and disillusionment.
- To Believe: When belief becomes the guiding principle, it can provide a comfortable closure, potentially stalling further exploration. Belief can be both sanctuary and limitation.
In the end, our choices—whether to question, act, or believe—reveal what drives us at our core. They determine not only our individual paths but also our contributions to something far greater than ourselves.
