This blog used to be random thoughts about auditing. As auditing slips out of my consciousness I will now address random thoughts about creating art.  Several years ago I realized that whatever I was working on would eventually be successful.  Sometimes I would leave my studio frustrated and think that I would never finish a piece.  Then I would come back with fresh eyes and see that I was almost there.  Recently I happened upon some writing from other artists that confirms what I learned.  Here is  quote from an artist, Teresita Fernandez, that another artist, Lauren Mantecon, posted on her Facebook page.

"A kind of panic sets in the very next day, an urge to get into the studio because you know you have to start all over again, building something from nothing, seeking the company of those trusted beneficial failures, waiting for those absurd internal dialogues with your own gang of voices.  It's not a very glamorous scenario.  But this is precisely what internal success looks like.  It is visible only to yourself and while you can trick the rest of the world into thinking you are a good artist, you can never really convince yourself, which is why you keep trying.  If you're lucky and motivated enough to keep making art, life is quiet, you get to work at what you love doing, happily chipping away at something, constructing something, adjusting to a cycle of highs and lows and in between, and it doesn't matter if you've been doing it for two years or 50 years, the patterns remain exactly the same.  The anxiety continues to set in, the doubts creep in, the baby steps towards mending fragments starts all over again, the cautious urge to peek between the cracks is there.  When you find yourself in that place, that's when you'll know that the inside is driving the outside."

I have also been reading Ellen J. Langer a psychologist who has done interesting work on "mindfulness" and one started to paint.  She states "All it takes to become an artist is to start doing art."

I'm back...

It's been over a year since I posted on this blog.  I used to have time in the morning before going to work to write about thoughts I had.  But then I got a new dog that needed walking in the morning and that took all my spare time.  It is nine months until I leave office and potentially auditing all together.  I am going to try to post my thoughts as I look back on 20 years of auditing.  Who would have thought...

One of things I've been thinking about lately is the new generation of auditors.  Do they have the passion to make government better or are they focused on the auditing standards and the process?  When I started I had never heard of performance auditing but it sounded like what I had been trying to accomplish in various government positions over the years.  I think I have mentioned this before but one of the things that inspired me to go to graduate school was a supervisor telling me that what I was attempting to change couldn't be changed where I was at.  I decided to go back, get a masters and start my career at the policy level. And then I saw that ad for a position that sounded like what I was doing but also sounded so much better.  And my career began.

More later hopefully.

The power of the crowd

This is an interesting story about the power of crowd sourcing. I wonder if it would be possible to crowd source audit work!

Shining a light

I've always felt that our job of shining a light had intrinsic value.  At least someone was looking and by our "shining a light" maybe others would too.  Here is another who has the same believe in a different milieu.

Social Media Performance Measures

Here is an interesting story about the Washington Post trying to adjust to the digital age. "Employees are schooled in the lingo of web traffic."  (p.2)  Interesting things to note:

• 35 different daily reports track traffic to different parts of the web site
• Editors receive a performance alert each day telling them whether the site is on track to meet its traffic goals
• Even if traffic is low to some pages, if the online visitor is from a government suffix web site, who they consider a main audience, they will support those pages

Makes me wonder how government should be looking at traffic.

Auditing the DoS

I just can't fathom an auditor performing an audit of the military. Here is an audit by the Special Inspector General for Iraq reconstruction. The first sentence in the summary is a statement that the work was impaired by the lack of cooperation of the Department of State. Auditors had to write the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton to gain cooperation. And then auditors found "only a relatively small portion of program funds—about 12%—will be used to pay for advising, mentoring, and developing the Iraqi police forces." The rest of the funding was for security and life support. The auditors state "Without specific goals, objectives, and performance measures, the PDP could become a “bottomless pit” for U.S. dollars intended for mentoring, advising, and training the Iraqi police forces." Where else could you find this type of information? And what must it be like to do audit work in this climate ?

Newspaper Headline

Never thought of an audit slapping something.

Long Summer

Auditing is a lonely business. It helps to work on a team who can appreciate and congratulate you on your work, but at some point you must speak up. The information in an audit is not always welcome but it must be said . That is why we work so hard on clarity and conciseness - to communicate the results and to be prepared for that moment. Most times, the satisfaction of being a voice of accountability outweighs the loneliness.

Saying it succinctly

Here is an interesting post that could be applied to writing summaries, press releases and communicating to Council. "And yet, that constraint has its virtues: it forces you to be concise, to figure out what you really need to say and skip the rest, to find turns of phrase that are shorter and usually plainer."

More About Boxes

I have written before about moving the boxes as it relates to what level of government provides a service. If a service isn’t working at one level of government, move it to another. Decision-makers or critics often look for an organizational solution when there is a problem. Related to this is the tendency to create another management structure by moving the boxes when the current arrangement is not working.

In my previous position there was an elected executive who also had legislative responsibilities. She was the top administrator, that is, responsible for implementing policy, yet also part of the legislative body with other elected officials. This worked great when those who were elected to the positions could maintain positive relationships and were dedicated to good government. There were times when that was not the case. I can remember having conversations with a newspaper editor about wouldn’t it just be better if the executive position was separate and perhaps appointed. I would come back with “It’s the people not the boxes.”

In my current position, the top executive/administrative position is appointed by the elected body. The person in that position made our work easier because management was receptive to our audits. He valued our audit work as another piece of important information. Not once has he been defensive about our findings or interpreted them as a statement about his performance. I am hopeful that a person with similar qualities can be found now that he is leaving because I know from past experience that it’s the people in the boxes, not the box, which makes the difference. I have my fingers crossed.

Audit Title Understatement

I don't know how I happened upon this Inspector General's report (It's from 2007), but I couldn't believe the understated audit title "The Department of Justice's Internal Controls Over Terrorism Reporting." This was an audit of the quality of the statistics reported about terrorism. The audit found that the FBI and Department of Justice both under- and over-reported statistics. Causes were such things as poor queries of the database, inaccurate coding, and lack of documentation to support the incident to be terrorist-related or occurring in the time period reported. They found "that the collection and reporting of terrorism-related statistics within the Department is decentralized and haphazard." A more interesting title might have been appropriate.

Love/hate relationship with numbers

Recently my daughter told me she hated numbers and math. We were talking about being a financial auditor. I had to agree with her. It feels like my head will explode when I sit for very long in front of a spreadsheet ensuring that all the numbers are accurate and add up.

But I love numbers when they can illustrate a story or a concept. And that's why I like performance auditing. In performance auditing, the goal isn't to just opine on the accuracy of numbers (although we do make sure of reliability before we conclude), the numbers tell you how important a finding is or communicate new perspectives.

Here's an example - Don't jump to conclusions about the census.

I love how audits can call out in very matter of fact language irrational decisions. "These criteria demonstrate that issues other than strictly public safety played a role in determining the program locations." (p.22) The City Controller of Los Angeles completed an audit on the photo red light program and its effectiveness in reducing traffic accidents caused by running red lights. Best practices state that it is most effective to place cameras at intersections with high traffic and accident rates. The audit found that that placement was the result in part of the need to garner Council support for the program so cameras were located in each Council district regardless of traffic congestion and accident data.

TSA screeners need better training - Really?

An audit done by the inspector general at the Transportation Security Administration finds that TSA screeners need to be better trained. "One lead TSO indicated that he had not accessed the Online Learning Center since 2005. The TSO also explained that staff had limited time to read printed training materials in lieu of going online." You can understand the urgency of getting the program underway but by now there should have been some kind of assessment by the agency itself.

Arghh...

There comes a time when auditing is not as easy as just doing the work and presenting the results. The dynamics of the organization has to be considered and a strategy developed. As an auditor becomes more knowledgeable about each department in the agency, the strengths and weaknesses start to become more apparent. It's like the relationship with a person. At first you see only the good things, then you begin to see the other side. Whether the relationship will remain healthy or not depends on the ability to not personalize the deficits. You have to keep your eye on the goal and work for improvements. But it is not easy.

Facts and stories

When auditees read the first draft of an audit a common response is that we did not talk about anything good that they have done. Our response is usually that our job is to identify problems, analyze why they occurred and how the situation could be improved. We are constrained by standards that require us to be fact-based. Establishing facts takes time. To include in the report an analysis of things that were going right would require the same standards be met. Since audit work is expensive, because of the time it takes to establish facts, it would not be cost effective to also analyze the successful parts of a service or program. However, we do try to add context so that there is an appreciation of the work that is being done to provide the service.

But from the perspective of a journalist trying to find a story that includes protagonist, antagonist, and facts that will capture a reader's interest, our reports are not hard hitting enough. When I have campaigned as an auditor, the common response was always that people had no idea there were auditors doing the kind of work we do. Auditors face a quandary, work for change or work to create an audit report that will capture a journalist's eye so that it will be reported and the public will see that there is accountability. Many of our audits fall under the radar because management has agreed with our findings and our recommendations. Or the audit area is just not interesting or big dollar enough. The choice is usually to work for change and not necessarily news coverage, so many stories never get told.

Short-term engagement

What would I do auditing in an environment that didn't value equity and human rights. Guess I wouldn't last long.

Savoring the Results

This has been a crazy summer so far. At first it seemed like it would never warm up. We planted our garden and then there was 2-3 weeks of hard rain. Seeds didn't sprout and existing plants suffered. Now we have had several weeks of sunshine and things are looking better, although getting to harvest is slow. What are the lessons here?

• You can't always predict when hard rain will come.
• Results might not happen on schedule.
• Sunshine always heals frustration and makes things grow.

I like the last bullet. Could be an analogy for transparency and organizational change.

Auditing by Processing

My thought process too. Like pulling a string or auditing.

Guerrilla Warfare

Thinking about a recent hiring process I was reflecting on possible differences between generations. My motivation in working for government has always been to make it more accessible, accountable and respectful to citizens. It brought to mind a book that spoke to me many years ago, Guerrillas in the Bureaucracy. I think I still have a copy in my office. I googled it and found this interesting book. I also found this article about how do deal with guerrilla bureaucrats. "Create an organization culture that accepts, welcomes, and encourages candid dialogue and debate." Yes!!