Internal Audit Mindset Shifts

Internal Audit Teams typically include IT specialists, data scientists, and others. Yet finance graduates with an Accounting focus often dominate.

Nothing wrong with that. But does this shape the lens on risks and findings?

Some fresh ideas about Internal Audit's optimal mindset:

First: Prosocial Influence

It's reasonable to attribute a high power motive to auditors, understood as the drive for influence and self-assertion. This desire for influence should be exercised in a prosocial way: integrative, reflective, and open to learning.

Second: Colours & Nuances

Auditors excel at analytical, detail-oriented thinking. Audit should move beyond black-and-white thinking, consider colours and nuances, and conduct its work with a forward-looking, holistic, and enterprise-wide perspective.

Third: Intellectual Openness

Internal Audit emphasizes continuous professional education. I expect our profession to actively embrace disciplines such as psychology, human factors, and systems science. We must be able to factor in behavioral risks as well.

Looking forward to the exchange.