Inquiry Write-Up

Josh Gignac
Huron Valley Schools
Galileo Leadership Academy
Cohort A
Background
In 2011, I was elected as president of the Huron Valley Education Association. Unlike many
school districts in Michigan, this is a full time release position, meaning for three years I would be out of
the classroom and working solely as our local president. Prior to my election, I served for four years as
the HVEA vice president, working on three bargaining teams as well as numerous ad-hoc committees.
During my years as vice president, I remained in the classroom as a teacher, which is where the bulk of
my energy was focused. I did, however, believe my years as vice president provided me ample insight to
the role of a full time release president, and that insight would serve me well in smoothly transitioning
from the classroom to a union president. Suffice to say, I was sadly mistaken. Never could I have
imagined the amount of time, energy and effort a full time release president spends working on and
with district committees, parent groups, union committees, political action and most importantly (in
my opinion), individual advocacy. As an elected official representing nearly 600 members, it was
important that I carried myself and interacted in a way that best represented the needs and
sentiments of the entire HVEA organization. Said another way, much of my identity over the past three
years has been more closely associated with the HVEA as an organization and less as Josh Gignac the
individual.
Almost immediately, it became glaringly obvious to me that the bulk of my days, weeks, and
months (for the next three years) would be spent working with district stakeholders from all roles and
levels. Relationship building would become critical in moving the organization forward, and those
relationships would be rooted in how I interacted with others. I consider myself and empath, and pride
myself on my ability to gauge the feel or vibe of a room based on the actions or words of those in the
room. Said another way, I believe my EQ to be higher than my IQ. Almost immediately, I began to take
stock of those that I witnessed that were bad, good, or the best at conversations. Subsequently, I
noticed what would happen to the productivity and energy level of conversations surrounding those
individuals. What was that those that were best at conversations did differently than those that were
the worst? More so, I recognized the personal need for me to develop my relational skills-set,
specifically: listening with empathy, seeking first to understand then be understood, thinking win-win,
and synergizing. Steven Coveys Leader in Me training provided me a foundation, but I needed more.
Initially, I chose to focus my inquiry on instructional technology and how it can increase
communication and collaboration in the classroom. Not having a classroom of my own, I began to travel
to and fro different classrooms within the school district. I observed my wifes fifth grade class during
technology time. I then traveled to observe a third grade classroom piloting Google Chromebooks.
Although I was learning how technology could be incorporated into the classroom, what I was learning
did not relate to my current practice. It all felt very contrived, as if I was spending more time trying to fit
my practice into my inquiry versus my inquiry into my practice. Then came a seminal moment in
crystallizing for me the need to improve my skill-set for talking when stakes are high, emotions run wild
and opinions vary. During a district meeting with the superintendent and a few choice administrators
regarding dress code and casual Friday, a middle school principal and I differed in our opinion on
whether staff members would be mandated to pay to wear jeans on Friday Casual for a Cause or be
encouraged to donate to a cause as a means to wearing jeans on Friday. I sided with encouraging, not
mandating a donation. Once our differences were aired, the Superintendent made his decision (which
was in alignment with my suggestion), clearly leaving the middle school principal feeling slighted.
Concurrently, I was planning on having a conversation with this same principal regarding his assigning
grade level meetings during unassigned planning time. Mistakenly, I decided to broach this issue just
after the culmination of the dress code meeting. Suffice to say, our opinions on how unassigned
planning time should be used also differed. He raised his voice stating that if my members didnt like it
they could grieve it. Better yet they could find a new school to work at! Being reactionary, I responded
my returning his sentiment by proclaiming we will grieve it, and guess what. WE WILL WIN BECAUSE
WERE RIGHT AND YOURE WRONG! He slammed the door and stormed out of the building. By taking
the bait and responding with emotion via adrenaline, I contributed to damaging our relationship. After
numerous apologetic emails, over time we eventually repaired our relationship, however, that moment
was a turning point for me in understanding that I needed to refine my approach to emotional
conversations as well as develop skills for diffusing potential land mines during these conversations. It
was time to abandon my technology inquiry and focus on tools for talking when stakes are high. Enter
the book Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler.
My Inquiry Plan
Id just begun reading my assigned chapter for the Education Specialist program. Instead of
reading one chapter, I decided to read the whole book and to use my learnings as my Inquiry Study. The
basic premise of the book is that how we interact during crucial conversations conversations where
stakes are high, emotions are high, and opinions vary largely impacts the future success of our
individual relationships, and organizations. From there, I developed my inquiry research question and
subset of wonderings or subquestions:
How can using tools for effective conversation improve communication during crucial
conversations?
Subquestions
How will the skills and tools learned in the book translate in real-word conversations?
Will using these tools decrease efficiency but increase trust and relationship building?
Will using the tools for talking act as a contagion?
Will my prior conversations and behaviors encroach on the effectiveness of these tools?
What data sources and collection techniques will best work?

Once I developed my wonderings, I began my journey by taking a Style Under Stress Assessment
http://www.vitalsmarts.com/styleunderstress/, quantifying the my individual strengths and weaknesses
during these conversations as well as giving suggestions for strategies to focus on for improvement. The
survey taker is asked to consider a situation, professional or personal, and take the survey with that
situation as your focal point. I chose to think of professional conversations with members and/or
administrators. The book discusses two Fools Choices that are most often resorted to during crucial
conversation. The first is moving to silence, which can include masking, avoiding or withdrawing from
the conversation. The second of the Fools Choices is violence labeling, controlling and attacking. Both
are bad in that they do not lead to an outcome that is best for you, others involved, and the
relationship. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. The higher the score, the greater my tendency to move towards these behaviors.
Next, the survey measures your tendency to practice the seven principals of maneuvering through a
crucial conversation Figure 2.

Figure 2. The higher my score in each of the principles, the better.
Per the survey results, I very seldom react violently and most often resort to silence. In reflecting on
these results, I found them to be accurate in that I have a tendency to sugarcoat issues instead of
being honest and delivering facts with dignity. Occasionally (as in the aforementioned confrontation
with the middle school principal), I lash out by resorting to violence, however, that is not my tendency.
In analyzing the principals, it is obvious that I need to start with the heart more often. This means that
its important for me think deeply about what I really want for me, the others involved and the
relationship. By having a deeper understanding of the heart, the odds of getting what you want are
greater. I liken this to Stephen Coveys habit of beginning with the end in mind. I also learned that I need
to be more decisive when the time comes to move to action. Clearly delineating what steps are going to
be taken (towards moving to a solution) and who is responsible for taking these steps is too often
assumed and not clearly communicated.
To support me in my areas of growth I created a pre-crucial conversations checklist (Figure 3).
Often times, I am able to discern whether a future conversation has potential to become crucial or
not. For example, if I have on my calendar a meeting with a principal regarding what a members feels is
an unfair evaluation or a reprimand, I can make an assumption that emotions will be high, opinions will
vary, and much is at stake. Much like we practice for a big game, speech, or presentation, I thought
being prepared (for crucial conversations) ahead of time made good sense. Below is an example of a
pre-crucial conversation checklist.













Figure 3. Checklist prior to a meeting that may have led to a member being disciplined.
Afterwards, I would then fill out an additional checklist allowing me to debrief metacognitively
reflecting on how I felt the conversation went. The Post- Crucial Conversation Check list also allowed me
to reflect on unexpected conversations that turned crucial (Figure 4).
POST-CONVERSATION CHECKLIST
Date: 3/3/14
Time: 1.5 hours
1) Overview of conversation (debrief): Conversation stayed safe. Dialogue was fruitful.
Misunderstandings were cleared up for both sides.

2) What was I feeling during the conversation? I never felt the adrenaline or pit n my stomach that I
often feel when conversations turn crucial. I think maintaining safety the whole time through
was helpful.

3) Describe my style under stress. Did I move toward silence or violence (silence: masking,
avoiding, withdrawing/violence: controlling, labeling, and attacking) or other? None

PRE-CRUCIAL CONVERSATION CHECKLIST

Date: 3/3/14
Time: 1.5 hours
1) Overview of issue/concern. Whats my plan? A teacher is potentially being reprimanded for duties in which
she was either unclear of or actually doing and doing well. I plan to add to the pool of understanding by
increasing dialogue.

2) What do I already know (pool of understanding)? I know that the players in this conversation can quickly
become emotional and move towards attacking. It will be important to find the best outcome for everybody
and continue to keep the conversation safe. Mutual purpose is that we all want what is best for the students.

3) What information do I need to know (increase pool of understanding)? I will need to know the perspectives of
each individual and what they really want.

4) What do I really want (for me, for everybody, for the relationship?) I want the parties to constructively work
through a dialogue that, in the end, comes to a resolution that meets the needs of the children and the
teacher.


POST-CONVERSATION CHECKLIST
Date: 3/3/14
Time: 1.5 hours
1) Overview of conversation (debrief): Conversation stayed safe. Dialogue was fruitful.
Misunderstandings were cleared up for both sides.

2) What was I feeling during the conversation? I never felt the adrenaline or pit n my stomach that I often
feel when conversations turn crucial. I think maintaining safety the whole time through was helpful.

3) Describe my style under stress. Did I move toward silence or violence (silence: masking, avoiding,
withdrawing/violence: controlling, labeling, and attacking) or other? None

4) What would I do differently/the same next time? Being that I got what I wanted for me, everybody,
and the relationship, I wouldnt change anything.

4) What would I do differently/the same next time? Being that I got what I wanted for me,
everybody, and the relationship, I wouldnt change anything.

Figure 4. Debriefing allowed me time to reflect on how each individual conversation began, progressed,
and ended
After applying the strategies as outlined in Figures 3 and 4, it became apparent to me that written
reflections were often laborious and impractical as well. To better accommodate my schedule and the
transient nature of my position, I began using the same questions to plan and debrief, however, instead
of writing them, I would record them on the Voice Recorder function of me cell phone (Figure 5)! -

Figure 5. Voice recorded crucial conversation planning and debriefings.
What a difference! By actually verbalizing my questions and putting my actions and reflections to words
in real-time, it really helped to crystallize the steps that needed to be taken towards mastering crucial
conversations. Oftentimes, I still go back to conversations to refresh my memory as to how I handled
them, what worked and what didnt. This has been a fruitful refresher strategy for those times in-
between crucial conversations.
Deepening the Pool of Understanding by Building Safety
In reflecting on my findings, I learned that deepening the pool of understanding by building
safety was perhaps the strongest tool for talking during conversations. Think of the pool of
understanding as everything we know about as issue. I parallel this to Stephen Coveys habit of Seeking
first to understand. Before we ever get to the point of moving to action, we must first understand why
people, act and feel the way they do we call this exploring others paths. Too often we reach to
judgment or make hasty decisions or judgments without fully understanding the others paths.
Furthermore, if safety is broken, it must be restored in order for this to take place.
For example, in one of my conversations a member (lets call her Nancy) was feeling targeted
by her administrator. A meeting had been called with the great possibility of Nancy being put on and IDP
(Individualized Development Plan). Prior to that meeting I met to chat with Nancy. As Nancy began
talking to me about why she felt targeted, she began to tear up and said Just forget it. Maybe fighting
this just isnt worth it. That was the point where I recognized that the conversation had just become
crucial. To build safety, I used the Mirror strategy. I stated, You feel like youve been teaching long
enough to know good teaching from bad. Youre frustrated that your principal cant seem to recognize
the difference herself. Right away, she said Exactly! I then deepened the pool by priming asking
Nancy to tell me some of the great thing she does every day. Safety was restored and she began to open
up about what she was and wasnt doing in the classroom. After hearing all of the good things she was
doing, we decided that it would be best that we share these positives with her principal. Not
accustomed to bragging, I encouraged her to do so by using another building safety strategy -
contrasting. I explained to her that I didnt want her to feel that she was being arrogant about that a
great teacher she was, but instead she was shedding light on the good things she does that have gone
unnoticed. We were ready for the meeting with the principal!
Deepening the pool of understanding and building safety certainly allowed for Nancy, the
principal and I to have a very constructive conversation. In fact, the principal unexpectedly shocked by
Nancys knowledge and skills set chose to leave her off an IDP and only informally focus on some
classroom management strategies. In the end I got what I wanted for me, Nancy, the principal, and the
relationship a fair plan that could recognize Nancys strengths and encourage her growth. Below was a
letter Nancy sent after our meeting.

Figure 6. Response from Nancy after spending the time to build safety and deepen the pool of
understanding

Efficiency in Crucial Conversations is Inefficient
Invariably, when deepening the pool of understanding and building safety the time spent on
crucial conversations is increased. Not having baseline data on length of conversations that did not
incorporate the tools for talking, as well as understanding that the length of such conversations is
impacted by variables such as the topic, time constraints (planning periods, start of school day, etc.) and
the willingness of those involved to engage, make developing a quantitate average length of
conversation nearly impossible. What I did find to be true is that when I engaged a participant by using
tools such as mirroring, priming, contrasting, and exploring others paths, the conversation continues
longer than it would had Id not. Though at times this felt laborious, in every case it was beneficial in
that it built safety and trust further strengthening the relationship.
In one conversation, I was working with a member in helping her to understand the nuances and
inner workings of Central Sick Bank (similar to Short Term Disability), as well as the compliancy
guidelines with Long Term Disability. Sadly, this member is currently receiving treatment for Stage 2
breast cancer. By starting with the heart and being cognizant of what was most important for her
(recovery) and out relationship (to provide a system of support built on trust), I was able to keep work
towards an outcome that was best for all her, me, and her students. As difficult as it was to broach
the possibility of this teacher not returning to work this school year, it was important for me to be
honest and factual when informing her of her options. At one point she became frustrated with the
mere suggestion that she may not be ready to return this work. I remained calm and built safety by
using the contrasting strategy. I told her I do not want you to think that I do not believe that you will
recover from this. In fact, you are one of the strongest people I know and know that if anybody will beat
this, it is you! BUT I do want you to know all of your options so you can have peace of mind during this
time of recovery. That built safety and allowed for us to continue our dialogue. Many lengthy
conversations with the ensued, often times rehashing exact language from previous conversations.
Understanding that this member was undergoing treatment (exploring her path) and keeping in mind
what I wanted for her and our relationship (starting with the heart) and spending the time to do so, we
were able to get through all her paperwork and put her in the best possible position to recover. Below is
a text message she later sent me (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Text message from member recovering from cancer treatment.


BUILDING BRIDGES
Through my inquiry, I noticed that the more I focused on using the tools for talking during
crucial conversations, the larger my circle of influence. Too often, relationships between a union
president and administration are contentious and lack relational trust. My inquiry proved to me that by
handling tough conversations (specifically with administration) with honesty and dignity and seeking
mutual purpose, I became a sounding board and a confidant for members and surprisingly
administrators. After dealing with an administrator regarding a difference of opinion in over an
evaluation, I was sent an unsolicited follow up email.

Figure 8. Email from an administrator following a tough conversation regarding a member evaluation.
Implications for the Future
Beginning on July 1, 2014 I will be making a professional change to principal of Johnson
Elementary. Through my inquiry, I was able to recognize when conversations became crucial. More so, I
learned strategies and tools for talking when these conversations occurred. At this point, I have only
scratched the surface in crucial conversation readiness. At times, I feel myself slipping back into my old-
habits of moving to silence, and have even been a bit controlling (violence) in conversations as of late. I
often refer back to the book Crucial Conversations to work toward fluency in dealing with these
situations and will continue to do so. Undoubtedly, there will be many more crucial conversations in my
future, thus providing me opportunities to continue honing my skills-set at dealing with them. Though
my inquiry research, I feel that I now have a strong foundation to build upon for future growth!