This is the third in a series of the internal control. The first blog, Internal Control and COSO, introduced this framework including highlighting some of its short comings. The second blog, A List of Internal Controls, attempted to create the most comprehensive list of controls ever constructed (or that at least I could find). This blog asks the question, “does COSO have competitors or is there a better control framework out there?“.
Continue readingThe network file structure is now about 50+ years old but is still the backbone for a lot of corporate and personal data management [1]. At the same time, how often have you heard stories of people losing all of the family pictures because they failed to back up or backed up the wrong directory.
Continue readingThis is a second in a series of blogs on Internal Control and this one specifically asks, is there a list of internal controls and why would you want such a list?
Continue readingAccountants are trained to think about and implement controls. The classic examples are segregation of duties, reconciliations or budgets. Generally though, these controls are to manage at the transactional level where an error or a small fraud might occur. The big frauds of course are in the C-Suites and include such classics as off-balance sheet liabilities, rogue traders or manipulation of inventories.
Continue readingThe more we understand about how the brain works the more almost magical it appears. At one time we had a very mechanical view of the brain in that section A controlled sight and section B over there managed the left thumb. Norman Doidge is a doctor and an author who has helped us realize that the brain and our very understanding of our mind is much more nuanced, complex and wonderful. In his late (ish) book, The Brain’s Way of Healing [1] he takes us through a series of case studies and current understanding of the brain.
I thought the subject matter of the book interesting enough to jot down some crib notes which are available in a previous blog, Book: The Brain’s Way of Healing. If you are not up to reading the whole book, feel free to peak over my shoulder at my crib notes.
In many ways our understanding of organizations and the brain have taken parallel tracks. Historically we knew that they both accomplished things but their exact roles and processes were complete mysteries. As science, engineering and society has evolved we have gone through periods of understanding in the context of the time.
In the earliest times it was an absolute mystery. As western medicine evolved, the brain was seen as a mechanical organ with specializations. In parallel, organizations were being understood from a mechanical model through the work of such titans as Frederick Taylor (Scientific Management). During the 1950’s to 1990’s the workings of the brain went from a mechanical view to one of a highly integrated system with the ability of one part taking over the function of a defunct section of the brain – the basis for the science of neuroplasticity. At the same time organizations evolved from a hierarchical function based structure to adopting a more agile team based one.
Today we have a profound understanding of the workings of the brain. Among those understandings is the realization that skills, thoughts and memories are not fixed in anyone spot or location but are held collectively within a larger neural system. Ultimately this distributed model is much more robust and resilient than the strictly mechanical model – although infinitely more complex as well.
So if you enjoy the bio sciences (or even want a better understanding of how your noggin’ works) then take a read of Doidge’s book. If you want to be a better manager then recognize that how the organization works is likely invisible to you – just like that memory or skill in your own brain. While you may not have direct control you can also nurture and support this reality be establishing effective structures, resources and then stand back to be amazed what good people can do.
[1] The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity. Norman Doidge (Author)
[Note, this is a memory jog meaning it is mostly for my benefit. Having said that, feel free to read (comment even) on this topic.]
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Organizational Biology 