Most of my career was within the Internal Audit profession. Among internal auditors, \u201can auditor\u2019s mindset\u201d is often mentioned. Or the aphorism \u201conce an auditor, always an auditor\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there a shred of truth behind these?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s often about having a systematic approach to problem solving. And anyone can benefit from that. Not just internal auditors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the root of this is a simple and compelling question that systematic problem solvers cannot avoid. It\u2019s part of who they are. It\u2019s more fundamental than \u2018why do we do it that way?\u2018 or \u2018what can go wrong?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s – \u201cWhat are we trying to accomplish?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This single question sets the stage. It provides context. Evaluating design and execution too soon misses the big picture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until you know their intended destination, it doesn\u2019t make much sense to evaluate their selected route. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, too often, I\u2019ve asked this question only to find out that they aren\u2019t entirely clear about what they\u2019re trying to accomplish. Oh, they know what they are supposed to be doing, day-to-day. But are they focusing and continually reevaluating their strategies to best contribute to the organization and its mission? In other words, do they really know what they are strategically trying to accomplish? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that \u201cwhat are you trying to accomplish?\u201d is really the root of what we call \u2018the auditor\u2019s mindset\u2019 for experienced auditors. It\u2019s the evolved version of the universal question – \u201cwhy\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are people born with this question embedded in their consciousness? Maybe, for some. But for most of us I think it\u2019s developed over time as we learn to recognize and question our assumptions about, well, everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s much better than a similar, trendy question that\u2019s often asked in a business setting – \u201cWhat does success look like?\u201d It\u2019s less useful because it assumes too much. People often take it too literally and start thinking about metrics and deliverables. It\u2019s a popular question with some consultants who, wrongly, focus too soon on some type of report, spreadsheet, dashboard, or other deliverable. Sure, consultants frequently get paid for deliverables. And, to be fair, they probably believe that they will be addressing the core problem. But it\u2019s skipping over the more important question. And it\u2019s this most fundamental question that often determines whether you\u2019re adding value or not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you jump to the deliverable too soon, it\u2019s somewhat like having a conversation where you\u2019re not really listening to what the other person is trying to say. Instead, you\u2019re already considering your response while they\u2019re still talking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, if you want to train yourself to be a more systematic problem solver, consider ways to put this one simple question in front of you so that you see it many times a day. Build a habit of of looking at the world through the lens of one simple question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat are we trying to accomplish?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you can do that, you may be setting your life on a more satisfying trajectory. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most of my career was within the Internal Audit profession. Among internal auditors, \u201can auditor\u2019s mindset\u201d is often mentioned. Or the aphorism \u201conce an auditor, always an auditor\u201d.\u00a0 Is there a shred of truth behind these?\u00a0 I think so. It\u2019s often about having a systematic approach to problem solving. And anyone can benefit from that. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-simplify"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":489,"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions\/489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdschrock.com\/home1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}