SH285: When Skill Alone Isn't Enough: The Resilient Performance Model
From Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving by Gareth Lock at The Human Diver
June 6, 2026 · 12 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the importance of aligning technical skills, non-technical skills, and the wider context to achieve resilience in diving operations.
Diving operations rarely fail because people lack skill; they fail when skilled individuals are not supported by the systems around them. The Resilient Performance Model from The Human Diver explains that performance comes from the interaction of three areas: technical skills, non-technical skills like communication and decision-making, and the wider context such as culture, workload, and resources. When one of these areas is weak or missing, problems appear—such as highly skilled divers working in silence, well-coordinated teams lacking critical skills, or strong systems where people feel unable to challenge decisions. True resilience happens when all three are aligned, allowing teams to adapt when things go wrong and still achieve safe outcomes. The key lesson is that improving safety isn’t just about better training or stricter procedures, but about creating an environment where people can speak up, make good decisions under pressure, and learn from both successes and failures to improve over time. Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/post/resilient-performance-model Tags: Commercial Diving
People in this episode
Host: Gareth Lock
Topics covered
- Resilient Performance Model
- diving safety
- human factors
- team dynamics
- communication
- decision-making
Keywords
- diving operations
- performance
- safety
- training
- teamwork
- culture
- workload
- resources
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Human Diver
More episodes of Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving
- SH286: The Shortcut That Gets You Home — and the One That Doesn't · June 10, 2026 · 10 min
- SH284: LEODSI and PETTEOT: A Systems Approach for Understanding How Diving Really Works · June 3, 2026 · 12 min
- SH283: You're Accountable. You're Responsible. You're It! · May 30, 2026 · 18 min
- SH282: Isolation Amplifies Drift: When Remote Operations Make Small Deviations Invisible · May 27, 2026 · 11 min
- SH281: HMS Scylla Wreck Penetration Tragedy: Two Perspectives on Learning · May 23, 2026 · 37 min
- SH280: This Could Happen to Any Dive Operator: What We Can Really Learn From The Perth Diving Academy Incident · May 20, 2026 · 10 min
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