Very independent, strong, and focused on achieving goals. Honest but they don’t have patience. Anything slow irritates an Aries…. A born leader, competitive, elite-level investigator.
I actually think it is completely spot on. And it’s not just the patience piece that is spot on… “elite-level investigator” is what really got me. And what prompted me to write this blog.
I think all internal auditors need to embrace this as their zodiac sign – even if you weren’t born in March like me (yes, I am getting ready to celebrate my first “shelter-in-place” birthday in a few days)…….
Internal Auditors need to act more like Investigative Journalists.
What do I mean? Some examples may help.
I have written and spoken publically about several incidents of unethical behavior over the last year. None that were uncovered by auditors; all were discovered by investigative journalists.
One was the discovery by the Tampa Bay Times of a dramatic increase in the death rate for pediatric surgeries at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. Another, uncovered by the same newspaper, was the terrible safety record and practices of the GardaWorld security and cash services business. A third, uncovered by journalists at the Miami Herald newspaper, was the apparent fraud in the board approval of excessive compensation to the CEO of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
And then we all probably remember John Carreyrou from the Wall Street Journal that “exposed the multibillion-dollar blood-testing company Theranos (Elizabeth Holmes) as a fraud in a series of articles published in the Journal.” Or on a smaller scale, but still a striking story, the Forbes’s journalist that uncovered the unethical behavior of the CEO, Shannon Spanhake, of the startup company, Cleo.
I’m sure there are countless more but the point is this… We rarely hear stories titled (or sub-titled for that matter)…
“Internal Auditors Uncovered Unethical Conduct and Massive Fraud at XYZ Corporation.”
So, it occurred to me that maybe auditors should start thinking and acting more like investigative journalists.
Just for fun, let’s compare the definitions.
Investigative journalism is “a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing.”
Internal auditing is “an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value to and improve an organization’s operations.”
The difference to me seems to be the FOCUS. Auditors typically follow the sacred annual audit plan, year after year, examining the same records, uncovering the same vanilla issues, and, often, writing very similar reports. Investigative journalists “deeply investigate a single topic of interest” and focus on potential “crimes, corruption and wrongdoing.”
Maybe, just maybe, if internal auditors took a more focused, “investigative” approach to high-risk issues, it would result in more meaningful, impactful internal auditing.
I sign all of my books “Don’t Wait.” And regardless of any criticism from those that think “patience is key,” I will continue to have that mentality until the day I die. It’s just me.
And personally, I think internal auditors need to stop waiting. It’s time to be an impatient, elite level investigator. It’s time to focus on the RIGHT risks… and find the story at your organization before the next journalist does.
____________
Want to learn from some of the best investigators out there? Join us on August 12th & 13th for our 2020 Fraud Vision Retreat! Read more or register here.