The COSO Cube - Finding a Control Framework in Everything

I spent roughly a decade of my life with this image pinned to my cubicle wall.

Most professionals in risk and audit will immediately recognize the COSO Cube. It provided an integrated framework to create and assess a healthy control environment. At one point, the Cube was updated into a helix shape, during a framework update. But by then I had developed a special affinity to my worn original poster, so it stayed up, right next to all the pictures of my dogs.

I could pick up this cube and audit just about anything, from frozen fish to electrons on a grid (and yes, I did audit both).

The thing is, a good control framework is not just for auditors. In my strategic roles, I’ve taken a COSO mindset and applied endlessly to projects. Control frameworks force you to consider every aspect of a future scenario and take them from a 50,000 foot strategy into ground level actions. 

The lesson all these years later? You can take the girl out of audit, but you can’t take audit out of the girl.