August 2018

August 27, 2018

​​6 Signals That Your Last Internal Audit Hit a Home Run

As I have been writing in my blog for nearly 10 years, I think internal auditing can be one of the most rewarding jobs on the planet. But let’s face it, no matter how good you are at your job, it’s unlikely that people drop by your office each day, or post a comment on social media, just to say how much they loved your last audit. Still, as I wrote back in 2011, there are unmistakable signs that your last audit was indeed a big success. Here are a few of my favorite indicators that an​ internal audit report hit a home run.…

August 12, 2018

​​The Road to Success Will Pass Through Many Valleys

You can tell a lot about the content of a person’s character by the way they respond to a defeat rather than by how they celebrate a victory. I often comment in this blog on best practices and technical issues relating to internal audit. However, in 2013, I began sharing my thoughts on an issue of broader interest: perseverance in the face of adversity.​

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve known over the years who suffered a professional setback and never recovered. They just couldn’t get over that hurdle and get on with their professional or even personal lives.…

August 6, 2018

​Internal Audit and Emerging Risks: From Hilltops to Desktops

As a profession, internal auditors have cultivated a long and respected legacy as purveyors of hindsight. Almost all of us are adept at looking at last year’s data and telling management where past mistakes were made. While hindsight is a necessary part of internal auditing, 20/20 hindsight is one of our least valuable skills. Often, our clients are already aware of past mistakes.​

With the advent of operational auditing and, ultimately, the introduction of consulting/advice into our portfolio of services, we also became purveyors of insight. Insight is generally seen as more valuable than hindsight to our beleaguered stakeholders, but it too suffers from limitations in an era when risks emerge at warp speed.…