Big D, little d, what begins with d?

When I was very young, (according to my son, when dinosaurs roamed the earth), I had a book entitled, "Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book!" It was one of my most favorite books and I remember the silly animals and items Dr. Seuss created to make an impression as to each letter of the alphabet.

Each alphabet character started with a new page and a new phrase. Something like this: "Big A, little a, what begins with A? Aunt Annie's alligator, A...a...A!" And so it went through the entire alphabet. It was silly, as only Dr. Seuss can be. It was hugely entertaining and somehow, learning surreptitiously insinuated itself amongst all the mirth and fun. Little did I realize, at such a tender age, my career in business would find another meaning for the phrase "Big D, little d, what begins with d?"

Some years later, (read 'a lot of years'), I was employed by a Fortune 500 company (not the one I am engaged with now), and they discussed the value of diversity as a means for competitive advantage. This organization divided diversity into two distinct groups: Big D and little d. The Big D represented protected classes. Those things, which to most of us, are obvious: Race, Creed, Color, Gender, Religion, etc. The little d represented those things which were not so obvious: Where you were raised (Midwest or Rocky Mountain West, urban or rural), where you went to school (Utah State University or Harvard, Trade School or higher education, high school or college degree), what you do with your spare time (watch TV or read a book, race a car or race to the store).

This organization taught and I personally agree with, the idea that the true value of diversity is getting past the Big D. That is not to say that the Big D is not important; it is. But that is like saying a wedding cake is important. Everyone at the wedding can see it and knows it's there. You can't really have a wedding without one. Comments abound on how it looks, the delicate floral frosting, the subtle colors and so forth. When people really get interested in the wedding cake is when it is cut. Does it have filling or not? If so, what kind of filling is it? Is it a white cake, yellow cake, chocolate cake, spice cake or some combination in layers? That's when the wedding crowd starts making the decision to take action on how big and how often they will have a piece of cake.

Diversity is the same. We need to get beyond the obvious. Doing so allows us to see what the real competitive advantages are. Reference my blog post about the IDEO company, (as well as any blog posts with the label "Diversity".) Any way, the IDEO company: they leveraged the little d and got fantastic results in what is now known as the shopping cart project. Investigative teams are the same way. It is the little d that truly delivers results.

The problem is that it is difficult and challenging to try and find the little d and what value it will have on the Investigation and the Investigative Team. Doing so requires discipline and forethought. Lead Investigators that exercise this type of deliberation, will have much more robust investigations. The risk of not understanding and leveraging the little d is Cognitive Myopathy.

So...Big D, little d, what begins with d?

A good, robust Investigation!