Build the Perfect Certification Agency

[RJP]

but basic recreational diving is not rocket science, so get a grip and stop scaring off the newbies. Happy diving.

But then that means that we aren't special....???

:d

 

[drrich2]

I understand my experience is anacdotal, but I fail to see the crisis that has brought on this (though I see this particular thread as entertaining) and other parallel thread's annoucement that DSDs and current agency OW standards/training as being substandard and life threatening (chicken little, sky is falling). I haven't seen any stats that back this up and I haven't had to push any dead bodies out of my way to get to the reef.

I think the appearance of a 'crisis' makes more sense when you consider who the customer is. If you want to understand a well-implemented business model, you've got to know who the customer is. So far, we've heard it discussed whether it's the instructor, the student diver or the LDS. In this thread I believe there's a different customer that's driving a lot of the thinking, and ironically one could argue it's not really a customer.

On ScubaBoard, there are a number of posters who are dissatisfied with the in-water performance and knowledge & skills capabilities of the diving public. Sometimes this dissatisfaction is understandable and legitimate; sometimes it smacks of elitism. Some issues where this has played out in the past:

1.) Physical fitness - just how fit does a diver need to be before he/she 'has any business' diving?

2.) Swimming ability & general comfort level in the water.

3.) Degree of buoyancy control, and mindfulness at avoiding contact with reef organisms.

4.) Navigation ability.

5.) Gas planning ability.

6.) Capability for and methodical practice of dive planning.

7.) Rescue knowledge & skills.

8.) Buddy system performance/adherence.

Some of these people have quite a negative opinion of the diving knowledge/practices of these divers, and 'want something done about it.' They tend to want agencies to have more demanding requirements, instructors to be more consistently held to a higher standard by student feedback, peer review, etc...

Reading over this thread, one might think these people are the customer.

You may be one of these people. Maybe for good reason (e.g.: saw newbie tourist divers clambering around on a reef).

But you are not the person paying for those divers' courses & gear. If your higher standards cause some to stay out of diving, the reef may see less damage but the LDS may see less profit. So a hypothetical perfect dive agency, perfect in terms of satisfying these people, is still going to have a lot of work to do in creating an effective business model profitably marketing a product to the real customers.

Richard.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Ok, figured it was time to take a crack at my version of “a” perfect agency vis-à-vis quality of instruction. As others have done, I will factor in certain commercial realities - and take some liberties regarding others - regarding implementation.

To me, the delivery of high-quality instruction that produces high-quality divers is a function of three things, in ascending order of both importance and ease of implementation/change.

1.) Standards & Performance Requirements
2.) Training Structure & Progression
3.) Business Model & Organizational Structure

STANDARDS & PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

This is the easiest thing to change. Because, big picture, nothing really needs to be changed. My perfect agency will happily take the existing standards and performance requirements from any agency and work with that. Once we got a hold of them we might skim through them for some minor tweaks. But, as written, I don’t think there’s agency with standards that are particularly deficient or incapable of producing skilled, proficient, safe divers. FULL STOP.

TRAINING STRUCTURE & PROGRESSION

With the assumption that we now have good standards in place, this isn't terribly difficult either.

All any agency needs to do is determine what what DIVERS - existing and new - actually want to get out of diving… and then use that to shape training progression. Note that I specifically did not say “get from the agency” because we know what they want to get from the agency: “the card.” They don’t want to “get certified” they want to “go diving.” They just happen to need training to do that.

Because people want to “go diving” it’s easy to understand that getting certified is simply something that is in the way of their actual goal. Currently there appears to be a fairly decent demand – or perhaps tolerance – in the marketplace for merely “adequate at best” instruction. When “adequate” satisfies the customer, I'd suggest that a "perfect" agency that creates a “perfect” Open Water course that’s ten weeks long, $1,500, and is designed to turn out navy seals - but that NO ONE signs up for because it doesn't meet their needs or expectations - is not perfect.

What I find interesting about most of the posts above is that no one really started by stating any sort of objective for what their version of the perfect agency is trying to achieve. Although it’s pretty clear that, for most, their version of a perfect agency would have the singular objective of creating more divers just like them.

I’ll buck the conventional wisdom and tell you that my perfect agency would make it EASIER for people to get certified. We’d start by doing the necessary market research to understand the wants/needs/desires of new and existing divers. With that, we would position diving as fulfilling those things in a way that people would come-in “pre-conditioned” with a mindset and expectation that would be best met by high-quality training that produced high-quality divers.

The training progression (let’s just focus on recreational training) would recognize the diversity of divers and dive expectations. From those for whom "Being a diver” singularly defines them… to those who see diving as an important part – but not the entirety – of their lives… to those who see diving as “something they do once in a while”… all the way to "Diving is something I want to do once before I die." The perfect agency would have a training progression that embraced the once a week, once a year, once in a while, and once in a lifetime divers. All are valid... all are valuable... all are welcome.

For ease of conveying the idea I’ll relate/modify steps in the progression to known PADI entities, if only because that’s my familiarity. The names I propose here would need work from a marketing communication standpoint.

Try Scuba – This would be a slightly watered down version of the current “Discover Scuba” program, targeted to the person who is considering getting certified, but isn’t sure if they can handle it. Literally not much more than just seeing if you can put the gear on, submerge, and breathe off a regulator without freaking out. If so… you can move on. There would be a charge for this, credited toward course fees if they do.

Discover Scuba – This would be a more in-depth and rigorous version of the current DSD. Targeted to people who want to really experience what scuba diving is… beyond just breathing underwater. Maybe they’re not sure about getting certified, but want more than the “Try Scuba” approach above. Maybe this is the guy that just wants to to check it off his bucket list. Figure something like a classroom session, two CW dives – where they need to meet some performance requirements – and one or two closely-supervised OW dives. Maybe a half-step below PADI Scuba diver. This program would be a valuable and desirable experience in and of itself; both the bucket lister and the guy who might want to move on need to say “Wow, that was so cool!” and tell all their friends “and you should try it!” No certification would be issued, but participants would get what would essentially amount to a “referral certificate” that would enable them to step into the next level course within 12mo.

Scuba Diver – Figure essentially midway between the current Scuba Diver (accompanied diver) and OW courses from a certification level. Students will go (or would have gone through the previous) "Discover Scuba" phase and now need to need to refine those skills and meet the majority of the rest of the performance requirements of current OW course, maybe with some basic rescue skills. This course recognizes - and would be geared towards the fact - that a great many people only want to be vacation divers and do a few dives a year… and realistically they will only ever do them in ideal conditions, 60ft or less, and with an instructor/DM or guide. Their cert would enable them to dive in conditions in which they were trained… no more. They can't rent tanks. They must always dive with a pro… whom they will need to pay… that will help them plan and execute their dives. Maybe throw enough info in to allow “supervised nitrox” use as well. The cert would need to be renewed every 12mo – either by conducting two or more dives or participating in a refresher program.

Open Water Diver – For simplicity, consider the current AOW but with training and evaluation of greater proficiency in all dive skills. Would also include a bit of rescue, including at least one dedicated “rescue scenario” dive. A minimum number of dives that are “indirectly supervised” by an instructor would need to be completed in order to ensure that an OW diver is genuinely able to plan and execute dives independently… and is comfortable doing so. The instructor that does that evaluation should possibly be a different “higher level” instructor than the one who conducted the class and signed off on everthing else. Sort of like drivers ed. Your driving instructor says you’re ready to get your license… but you don’t get it until you’re evaluated by someone from the DMV.

Advanced Open Water Diver – I’m losing steam here, but this would essentially be the current “Master Scuba Diver” rating plus the rest of the Rescue Diver course. You'd be expected - and evaluated upon - have even more proficient skills. You'd actually be an "advanced" diver in some meaningful way.

You get the idea of where I’m going, right?

The progression makes it does make it easier to get into diving, largely by matching the training to the diving the diver will actually do. It doesn’t lower the standards… it raises the expectations at earlier phases and enhance what the student actually gets out of the “intro” level classes (my new Discover Scuba and Scuba Diver programs) so more people will come in. It will also make it much more attractive and desirable to MOVE UP once you’re in because as you get better and better… you can get more access/autonomy/opportunity. Currently, there's really little incentive for most divers to do more than OW.

Another key feature is that the whole thing would be modular. Not only letting people continue easily… but allowing people to stop a certain point. Say you sign up for OW but, after what essentially amounts to completing the Discover Scuba and Scuba Diver programs you realize that’s the extent of your skills and desire. No problem… you get your Scuba Diver cert and everything that comes with that. And if you want to give it another try in a few months… c’mon back. I think having that sort of “escape clause” will make it easier for people to commit to starting.

One last thing on training, and I hate to say this, but it might be a good idea for instructors to be licensed by their state. When you really think it through, it’s kind of absurd that I can’t cut your hair without a license from the NJ Department of Public safety… but I can certify you as a scuba diver?

BUSINESS MODEL & ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

This is where the hard work and hard decisions need to be made, especially as relates to quality of training.

The reality is that in order for an agency to control (not just mandate) the quality of instruction being delivered… the instructors must “work for” or “work on the behalf of” the agency. In the current model, the breakdown occurs because the agency’s customer is the person/place that DELIVERS the training rather than the person who ultimately RECEIVES the training. The agency works for on behalf of the instructors. Think about it, you would have very little control over the quality of service you get from the guy who mows your lawn… if HE was paying YOU.
I think the agency needs to go from merely being a decal on the door or a banner in the window… the agency needs to be the name on the building.

My perfect agency would be a BUSINESS first and foremost. It wi be a VALUES-BASED business (quality training, safety, protection of environment, etc, etc) but make no mistake... it will be a FOR-PROFIT business

​Because it will be a for-profit profit it will be structured and run as a for-profit business, with a business model that is actually capable of ensuring delivery of a high-quality product in a uniformly standardized fashion. We can all go on and on about higher standards and QA and whatever… but those things can never really be implement in a “big agency” setting under the current agency business model. The agency currently has no control over the instruction.

There are a few business models that could make sense here, but gun-to-my head I’d suggest an owner-operator/corporate management type setup. With both corporate-owned and owner-operated options. Call it the “International Dive Excellence Association” or IDEA if you like. Once all the details about training standards, etc are nailed down, the business model is what the corporation really drives. Everything from the marketing approach to materials and especially the training... is set in stone.

If you want to open an IDEA Dive Center... you agree to follow the IDEA process that ensures delivery of uniformly standardized products and services in a uniformly standardized fashion. You get IDEA training, you have other IDEA people checking in on you from time to time. You perform to IDEA standards. And, like in any real business, if you don’t perform to those standards you’ll get bad reviews, no raise, and remediation. And if that doesn’t work you go on a performance improvement plan, and if that doesn’t work you will be “pursuing opportunities outside the organization.”

I don’t know if the scale is there for this to work economically in the dive industry, but if you want the agency to be able to control the quality of the training… the agency needs to actually own or directly manage the delivery of that training. A corporate/owner-operator franchise would make it possible to do that.

People of course think “McDonald's” when they think corporate franchise, and immediately assign a "franchise = low quality" judgment. Forget what the product is, look at what the business model is: delivery of a product or service of defined quality in a uniformly standardized fashion. The French fries that boulderjohn gets at a McDonalds in Denver are exactly the same as the French fries that I purchase in Princeton. It’s the complete opposite of the current “it’s not the agency, it’s the instructor” mindset. At McDonalds “it’s not the fry-cook, it’s the franchise.”

“But RJP… a franchise can’t possibly deliver high-quality goods and services. I don’t want McDonald's scuba training!”

I won’t wait for someone to say that, suggest that I’m advocating cheap and fast training provided at a drive-thru window by some high-school kid, or otherwise stick their nose up in the air about how high-quality their training is and that they are far “above” the level of a franchise.

Sure McDonald's is a corporate “franchise” restaurant… but so is Morton’s or The Capital Grille. Just like the McDonalds fries… the phenomenal Kona Coffee Rubbed NY Strip at The Capital Grille in San Francisco will be the same as the phenomenal Kona Coffee Rubbed NY Strip served at the Capital Grille in Miami. Why? Because everything that either restaurant does is developed, overseen, and constantly evaluated by “headquarters” according to very specific, high standards. The kitchen will be overseen by a highly-skilled chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America. The Sommelier at any Capital Grille will be a well-trained professional. The place will be run by someone who graduated with a master’s degree in hospitality management from Cornell. Even the waitstaff will be professional, well-trained, well-managed… and well-compensated.

Compare a Capital Grille restaurant to the average family-owned restaurant for a great example of what the dive industry SHOULD be. A friend of mine is the Managing Partner of the Capital Grille in Manhattan (Cornell ’92). She will tell you that - although she might perform many of the exact same functions as the guy running his family’s restaurant – there’s one main difference between independent restaurants and corporate-owned restaurants

• The independent one is being run by people who are “in the restaurant business”
• The corporate-owned one is being run by people who are “in the business of restaurants”

In the current model, instruction is delivered by people “in the dive business.”

In my vision the perfect agency would,,,

1. Start by understanding the wants, needs, and desires of potential and existing divers
2. Develop and promulgate a high-quality training offering that is designed and structured such a way that those people would see as innately attractive and intuitively valuable
3. Deliver that training in a uniformly standardized fashion through agency owned/managed locations by people who are “in the business of diving.”

I'm sure there's plenty of nits to pick, but that's the best I could do in under 2,500 words.

:shocked2:

I like all this.
The only thing I still wonder about is quality control and the power given to the instructors, or in your example instructor/agency, to issue their own cert card. Even though it's agency managed, what's exactly stopping them from a run away profit model that begins to weaken standards in favor of making more money. Isn't that kind of the problem now in some ways?
I think state licenseing for instructors/agency is a good idea. I think a state exam and water test for the student at upper level full certifications is even better. All the trades in most or all states require contractors to take a test and be licensed by the state. Can you imagine if there were no rules on home building, or building inspectors to check the work of so called "licensed" contractors. I know it's not perfect but it's a lot better than not having it at all. And then, just because somebody is licensed doesn't mean they are doing the job right, that's why they get inspected EVERY TIME they build a new house.
Then what about college entry level exams? I personally know a few home shooled kids that excelled and went to great colleges. How would the college have known what these kids new if there wasn't some sort of test? And if the parents of those kids was able to give their own test to present to the college what guarantee would anybody have that the test wasn't skewed?
So in the case of quality control in scuba training, who does this? Do the facilities that do the training get "shopped" like they would in retail or franchise restaurants? And is it random checking or is there a way to have somebody else do a final test to see if said OW student (at first level of an actual certification) is proficient enough to get the card.
As I see it scuba needs to be taken very seriously. It isn't something that's as easy as riding a snowboard or a bike. You don't just decide you don't want to be there anymore and walk away, you have to skillfully be able to extricate yourself from the environment. People can drown really easy. They're dependent on an artificial breathing device connected to a can of air with lot of water on top of them. There's a lot of physics involved, and screwing up or not knowing stuff can really end badly.

I like the baby step idea before an OW cert, I think that would get a lot more casual interestees into the water.

 

[RJP]

Even though it's agency managed, what's exactly stopping them from a run away profit model that begins to weaken standards in favor of making more money.

Why do you believe that high standards and high profits are mutually exclusive?

If your marketing platform is built on the premise of creating and fulfilling demand for a high-quality training experience... the two go hand in hand.

 

[DaleC]

You have me totally baffled. You seem to be saying that agencies should make sure that students don't take any courses from the agency while they are between taking courses from the agency. You should be saying that they should be overseeing and instructing students when they are not overseeing and instructing them.

Maybe I'm missing your point.

Yes, missing the point. I think agencies should promote good training that recognizes the need to stop and refine the skills taught before plugging the student into the next course. The agency, in the teaching business and supposed to be professional instructors, should recognize the need for that. It's not a case of not providing education; just doing so at the proper pace and in a way that promotes complete assimilation. But that falls apart when the provider is trying to make a living in a market that isn't self sustaining and can only do so by upselling every customers experience. However, as RJP says, the agency really isn't in it for the diver; they're in it for the instructor. I would see that change.

And my vision of the "perfect agency" would have some sort of component that covers the time between classes, as that is still a time when learning occurs. How that occurs, whether it is affiliate club membership or ??? is up for debate but as it stands now, the agencies can only maintain influence on customers by actively involving them in courses, which leads to customers being oversold knowledge before experience sets in. If the agency was working for the diver they should plan to provide some sort of oversight/assistance/guidance for that important part of learning - otherwise the provision of learning is incomplete.

GUE doesn't deliver B. GUE divers deliver B; GUE merely mandates a certain amount of experience between classes. I don't know precisely where the culture of GUE diving came from, or why it evolved the way it has, but GUE divers DO tend to be very loyal to their community, and avidly do outreach and mentoring. New divers in the system are mentored by more experienced ones, and once they reach higher levels, many turn around and do the same.

DaleC, you are going to love Fundies.

Yes, I should have been more specific as to how that works, yet it can't be denied that something is at play that creates a high esprit de corps and sense of belonging within that agency, even for people who don't become technical divers. The pride, the commitment to developing what is taught, the networking among customers to create community and mentoring... Other agencies could look at this and ask: Why doesn't some of that occur with us? What's going on there? How can we replicate something like it?


RJP, I like your basic idea of tailoring courses to divers and valuing them at that level. If you are a vacation diver, celebrate that fact! join the IDEA vacation diving fraternity with other vacation divers and have a course content that really speaks to your experience. Network, meet up at IDEA resort events, share your experiences online. If you want to be an independent diver, Yahoo! Why not feel a sense of belonging with other independent divers who also take the type of training they need. Every diver, at every level, should become a "member for life" in the sense of being made to feel they are part of that agencies diving family... Rather than being seen as someone who has not fully realized the full potential of the one pathway the agency provides and abandoned when they stop taking those courses. I bet you would have better customer retention, brand loyalty, and capture training at a later date if it were done that way.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Why do you believe that high standards and high profits are mutually exclusive?

If your marketing platform is built on the premise of creating and fulfilling demand for a high-quality training experience... the two go hand in hand.

I agree if it was a perfect world. But you know the saying "Absolute power corrupts absolutely"

When I got certified, if the shop offered me two different OW classes:
A) PADI OW that would be about what it is now for $350.00
B) A PADI (or other) dive course that was everything above but also included peak buoyancy, advanced drills, plan and execute your own independent dives with a buddy and with confidence, etc. and a bunch of other stuff for lets say $1000, or even $1200,
I would have saved up and picked B, but that's me. Many would have picked A thinking it was good enough.
And if the marketing was good it would have made me feel good about paying the $1000 - $1200 because good marketing would have shifted focus to what I was getting and investing in instead of and before sticking the price in my face.
Beyond high standards and high profits, the way it is now what keeps an independent instructor from seeking high profits without delivering high standards? Or any shop/instructor for that matter regardless of what the agency demands.
We could sit here and dream up the best course, the best maketing plan, the best business model, best of everything, and if it was run with absolute fidelity and unwavering integrity it would be stellar, but just look at history.

 

[KevinNM]

So everything else in my post is good, then?

:d

Not bad.

Something like the GUE Fundamentals skill tests to be allowed to become an instructor or progress outside of "normal OC recreational diving" seems like it might be useful too. But this is where the DMV model becomes viable, an outside disinterested tester that you pay. The instructional plus test concept of fundies is certainly viable here, but probably without the requirement for DIR type standardization.

 

[Bob DBF]

. I'm sure there's plenty of nits to pick, but that's the best I could do in under 2,500 words.

:shocked2:

I could find something, but the two points that I have always had problems with are covered so I don't have to bitch immediately.

Or as they used to say in the movies " We can start it the barn, RJP can sew the costumes, and Eric and I can build the set"



Bob

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Not bad.

Something like the GUE Fundamentals skill tests to be allowed to become an instructor or progress outside of "normal OC recreational diving" seems like it might be useful too. But this is where the DMV model becomes viable, an outside disinterested tester that you pay. The instructional plus test concept of fundies is certainly viable here, but probably without the requirement for DIR type standardization.

The DMV model would also allow the "home schooled" diver to go in and take the test. They could get books, manuals, practice everything in their own pool, be mentored, read the test handbook so they know what to do and what to expect. Then when they're ready they go in do the written, the pool portion, set up for the open water exam, do that, and if they pass everything they get their card. Any charter anywhere in the world would see that and know they had to meet a certain standard set by an indifferent and uninvested agency.
Or like in RJP's IDEA idea, they could also go through a full plush school with a whole fraternity of divers and be set to go in and take the exam. The best part of RJP's idea is that if the school was that good then they would get word of mouth advertising which everyone knows is the best.
Something like, "Dude, just go through the IDEA school, it's a little more money but you'll fly through the test!"

 

[DaleC]

I haven't followed this board nearly as long as others and I certainly don't have the dive experience of others (if you want to castigate me over that, be my guest), but basic recreational diving is not rocket science, so get a grip and stop scaring off the newbies. Happy diving.

I don't think anyone will castigate you for voicing an opinion. No one person has the perfect answer and the beauty of the board is that people can communicate their ideas and bounce things off each other.

You represent a certain type of diver, much like myself. Independent, trusting in your own abilities, knowing what you want and willing to take responsibility for getting there. Awesome! But there are other types of divers. Those who want the experience but don't want to invest in becoming skilled divers. They are ok with others setting up their gear, telling them how deep, how long and where to go. Afterwards they will say they had a fantastic experience if they saw what they hoped for and didn't get sea sick.

Ancedote. We did a remote lake and some experienced divers showed up. Another diver also showed up with gear she didn't know how to put together, how much weight she needed, couldn't reach her releases or find her octo, had trouble getting down and could only flail about in a crazy fashion. I was actually afraid for her the whole time and only because I did not want her to die, acted as her personal dive buddy/guide. I was so glad when she called the dive and said that was enough for the weekend 7-8 hours of driving for 15 minutes of diving.

She wasn't a bad person. She believed she was certified as an open water diver so why not do an open water dive with her new friends. Her actual experience was really in warm water with guides and while she liked going diving she wasn't really into the whole "diving" thing. But... she was as certified as the rest of us and no one told her any different. When you've met a few of those cases you begin to wonder if there might be a better way.