“INTERNAL AUDIT ARTIST”

Iwas amazed to find this term when I did a web search on the art of internal auditing. I thought I was the only one combining art and internal audit. Looks like this is trending! The author went on to say: “If internal audit wants to add value; if internal audit ever wants to be perceived as more than green-eye-shaded pencil pushers; if internal audit wants to find its way to the forefront in businesses, industries, and professions, we have to reward the artists (https://iaonline.theiia.org/blogs/jacka/2015/the-artof-internal-audit). So please allow me to say “yay” to that!

Five years ago when we were asked to introduce and de- scribe ourselves to the new head of our internal audit office, without hesitation I proudly said I was a visual artist. I felt my colleagues’ eyebrows raised. It was as if I was in the wrong place (i.e., not in an internal audit office). Some felt I wrongly mixed science and arts and created a new academic field.

But just as oil and water are now mixable as an artist’s medium, I could say art and internal audit are truly compatible, and I will tell you why and how. Art is a way of seeing things. It is a way of grasping the world. Art goes beyond looking at the physical world (which is what science attempts to do). These days, corporate management wants creative solutions to their problems. For internal auditors to be relevant and attuned with the changing times, internal auditors must learn to think outside the box and be creative and imaginative. Internal auditors must not be content with the status quo, they must always recommend new ways, better ways of doing things at least cost to the organization. In a situation where more is expected from less, internal audit artists could help design a simplified system guaranteed to produce better results. Also, expect the internal audit artist to come up with a more effective audit report format that would catch the attention of management and move them to take action.

It is time to go beyond the technical skills that we learned from school. It is time to widen our perspective and be creative. It is time to be innovative. It is time to transcend. It is time to be an internal audit artist.

Nannette Guinto Amorado is a retired Chief of Quality Assurance and Policy Unit of the Office of Audit and Investigations of the United Nations Development Programme in New York City. She has over 40 years of internal auditing experience. She is also a visual artist and has had a number of solo art shows here and abroad.