Richard Chambers, president and CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors, has produced an updated edition of his memoir and advice book, “
In the book, Chambers offers insights from his 40-plus-year career to help internal auditors and their organizations deal with today’s turbulent and often risk-filled global environment. The latest edition also includes a foreword by Paul J. Sobel, chairman of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and chief risk officer and former chief audit executive for Georgia-Pacific LLC. The book is being released in conjunction with the IIA's General Audit Management conference in Dallas this week.
“Richard’s extensive and diverse experience makes him uniquely positioned to share the valuable lessons gleaned from his career,” wrote Sobel, who was IIA global chairman in 2013-14. “This book demonstrates how timeless insights still must be customized to meet the needs of an ever-changing world.”
In the book, Chambers highlights lessons from his extensive experience in internal auditing to discuss different topics of concern to the internal audit professionals, including:
- Perspectives that management and audit committees are reluctant to share;
- How marketing internal audit can enhance awareness about its value;
- Frequent sources of tension between management and internal audit;
- The idea that internal auditors can audit anything, but not everything;
- The importance of tact and the art of bringing about positive change;
- How poor audit planning can cause “the wheels to come off” the engagement;
- How smart internal auditors ask smart questions; and,
- The need for ethical internal auditors to be courageous.
The first edition of "Lessons Learned on the Audit Trail" was translated into Spanish, French, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, and sold more than 15,000 copies worldwide after its 2014 release.
“While organizations are raising the bar on effective risk management, executives face extraordinary headwinds spawned by a turbulent environment in which risks materialize virtually overnight,” Chambers wrote. “Internal auditors are finding that rigid, risk-based annual audit plans are increasingly relics of the past that position them to addressing yesterday’s challenges. This reinforces my long-held belief that internal audit must take a more continuous approach to risk assessment — auditing at the speed of risk — which is a recurring theme in this updated edition.”
"The Speed of Risk" is published by the nonprofit Internal Audit Foundation. It’s available in hardcover, paperback and e-book formats through the
