My co-blogger, Norman Marks, posted this clip on his Facebook page. It is very interesting. I’ll start by saying that I do not know the sources of the data — in fact, I have serious concerns about the veracity of some of those stats. (For example, “Studies show it’s [Wikipedia] more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica.” I just don’t buy it and, even if true, it understates the notorious inaccuracy of Wikipedia. This is brought home by a subsequent quote that indicates Wikipedia has just over 156 entries per hour. I’m sorry, that does not speak to me of quality.) 

Why do fools fall in love?
A lack of controls.

I'll admit I'm trying to get a handle on this whole Twitter thing. Not how to do it — that I know. (Although my daughter had to help me get it working with my cell phone.) But the greater impact of what it means to business. The eye-opening event came from (again) my 20+ year-old kids. They were at Comic-Con in San Diego a couple of weeks ago. (If you don't know what that is, look it up because you are missing out on an important pop culture touch point. Much of what you see on television/movies/the Internet/etc. is being driven by what happens at the small-grown-large comic book convention.) They were upset because they had missed out on a couple of special events. Vendors (Warner Bros., etc.) had set up Twitter accounts, and my kids were linked for the updates. Unfortunately, they missed notification on a couple of "secret" events with extra goodies. It hit me — Twitter was the new secret clubhouse/secret handshake/college tie/group of Masons hidden in plain sight. And I knew that, having had that Damascus moment, I was only seeing a small part of something bigger.

Kenny says he escaped just in time. “I thought we were unbeatable. Then one of them new kids joined the gang. You know the kind; they got a Masters in one hand and an attitude in the other. I took him under my wing, and I got him into the SOX right away. First meeting with a department head, the guy started givin’ us lip. The argument turned into a rumble. Yeah, we won. We always win. But the new kid — so new I never learned his name — wasn’t with us anymore. Well, you can’t just get one of the gang fired and not pay. The department was trashed in the next audit committee report and their budget was slashed. But that didn’t bring the kid back. That’s when I knew that kind of auditing was a dead end. I got out, found a real job, and made something of myself. Sure, I might have been riding high when I left, but tell me, what’s gonna happen when the SOX runs out?”

Some say that first hit of power happened way back when the government introduced FCPA into the system. Others think it was just that executives started spoiling the auditors — letting them start looking at more than just financial controls. But everyone agrees the big turning point was when auditors started calling themselves “consultants” and began talking about “engagements,” “customers,” and “clients.”  There were those who tried to fight it, those who warned that the risk of auditing must be mitigated. But it was too late — the auditors were hooked. They were “facilitators” and “risk experts.” And their addictions only got worse. ICQ, CSA, COSO, ERM — as soon as one addiction grew old, something would spring up to take its place. And with each new wrinkle, each new fad, the auditors gained more control.

There is a darkness in companies today. It is not just the darkness of corporate malfeasance; it is not just the darkness of questionable ethics; it is not just the darkness of hallways dimmed to save on electrical bills. It is the darkness that results when the young and the innocent go bad. Where once walked the trust and hope of the company’s future; where once walked the pure, the untarnished, the beacons of virtue; now walks a plague. For the corridors of business are being overrun by rogues, thugs, and gangs. The Auditors are in control.

And no, I don’t mean the Internal Auditor Online blogs (although you should be visiting these every day, also).

I’m going to worry this bone to death, I know, but I keep coming back to the whole issue of a kinder, gentler approach to auditing destroying our effectiveness (and future). And this latest was a trap I found myself falling into.