Making sense of the world, your acquaintances and the marketplace
Johar
i’s Window and Knowns Unknown
Donald Rumsfeld’ now infamous quote in February 2002
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”
It is difficult to get ones head around but if you think about it in terms of Johari’s window – or the CRAM development window at least it is a little easier to understand. The same principle applies to you in your interaction with other people and can be applied in business development.
A bit of background:
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.
When performing the exercise, the subject is given a list of 55 adjectives and picks five or six that they feel describe their own personality. Peers of the subject are then given the same list, and each pick five or six adjectives that describe the subject. These adjectives are then mapped onto a grid.
Charles Handy calls this concept the Johari House with four rooms.
Room 1 is the part of ourselves that we see and others see.
Room 2 is the aspect that others see but we are not aware of.
Room 3 is the most mysterious room in that the unconscious or subconscious bit of us is seen by neither ourselves nor others.
Room 4 is our private space, which we know but keep from others.
The concept is clearly related to the ideas propounded in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator programme, which in turn derive from theories about the personality first explored by the pioneering psychologist Carl Jung.
CRAM insight window was developed in 2010 Chris French and Mark Kirwin to apply the principles of acquaintance and social circle development to Market place and business development.
The way that this applies to Business development
Based on Johari’s window, the CRAMs insight window explores what is known by us and what is known by our customers and consumers.
The objective is to maximise the known by asking the right questions. There will – of course be information we are not allowed to ask the consumer for and information the customer might not want to share with us!
When we ask the right questions to gain insight we then need to work out how to CAPITALISE on the insight.
Information known to us and or known to customers and consumers is information which is either OLD or common format i.e. Financial, sales, public domain, standard merchandising information, standard consumer information.
Generally this will be a large amount of data in developed markets and could be small amount of data in developing markets
In a New market or with a new product the stage 1 CRAMS insight window would look like this:-
Not much known to us – just the initial research insight or transferred or assumed learning from other market places.
Not much known by the customer and consumer – as above just what is known or assumed from the inferences about other market places or imports
The objective is to find out by observation, deduction, hypotheses and research – and then to capitalise on the insights by converting this into leverageable actions.
In a Developed market or with developed product the CRAMS insight window would look like this:-
More is known to us – we have our own research insight or shared learning from this market place which has been tested.
More is known by the customer and consumer – as above more has been tested and insight accrued from this market place – the insight has been discussed, shared or seen in the market.
The objective is to find out more by observation, deduction, hypotheses and research – and then to capitalise and leverage the insights by converting this into actions.
In a Mature market or with mature product the CRAMS insight window would look like this:-
A great deal is known to us – we have lots of formal and informal research insight or shared learning from this market place which has been tested.
A great deal is known by the customer and consumer – as above more has been tested and insight accrued from this market place – the insight has been discussed, shared or seen in the market.
The objective is to find out more by observation, deduction, hypotheses and research – and then to capitalise and leverage the insights by converting this into actions.
There will always be some information which can’t be used:-
- Customers will not share it because of its sensitive commercial nature.
- The Political, Legal or Social framework will not allow it to be leveraged.
- The Political Legal or Social framework will not allow you to ask Consumers.
The objective is to use the insight you have or acquire to change perceptions of the Consumer or the Customer – and then to capitalise and leverage the insights by converting this into actions.
The way that this applies to your acquaintance/friend development:
In reality this is exactly the same as we do in our social life, when we meet new people, we ask questions to understand how they fit into our world and their world, we occasionally trade information which is shielded from the rest of the world, we sometimes do not share information we know would give the other person an advantage and we seek information which will give us an advantage.
With a new acquaintance the stage 1 CRAMS insight window would look like that of the developing market:-
Not much known to us – just the initial insight acquired from assumptions, our experience or from other acquaintances or situations. There will be not much known by the new acquaintance – as above just what is known or assumed.
The objective is to find out by observation, deduction, hypotheses and questions – and then to capitalise on the insights by converting this into leverageable actions.
There will always be some information which can’t be used:-
Friends will not share it because of its sensitive personal nature.
The Political, Legal or Social framework will not allow it to be leveraged.
The Political Legal or Social framework will not allow you to ask friends these questions.
The objective is to use the insight you have or acquire to create or change perceptions of the other person – and then to capitalise and leverage the insights by converting this into actions.
The secret to all of this is planning and asking good questions. So think what questions you might need to ask and then remember…
There is always MoreThan1Answer…