The movie Forrest Gump is an acclaimed and universally known film. It received 13 Academy Award nominations and took home six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Best Director. In 2011, the movie was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress to be preserved as a cultural, artistic, and historical treasure. Yet before its release, some people worried if the movie would be successful, including none other than its lead actor, Tom Hanks.
During the shooting of the movie, Hanks asked its director, Robert Zemeckis, “Is anybody going to care about this movie? This guy sitting on a thing in these goofy shoes and this cuckoo suit… are we doing anything here that is going to make any sense to anybody?” Zemeckis replied, “It’s a minefield, Tom. It’s a minefield. We may be sowing the seeds of our destruction.”
In many ways, internal audit projects can be similarly unpredictable. Much like movie making, its often unclear before and even during the execution if they will yield great results or become an expensive flop.
Unexpected Results
Have you ever performed an internal audit of an area, expecting to have major findings, only to come out empty-handed? And on the flip side, have you ever performed an audit, not expecting much, only to come out with findings that would significantly change the organization?
I have.
A memorable example was my very first in-charge project. I know for a fact that I was given that project to lead because not much was expected from it. It was supposed to be my “get your feet wet in leading projects” project.
The result? A large-scale bribery scheme was uncovered, which ultimately resulted in untimely departure of a vice president, a director, and a few managers.
From Blockbuster to Bomb
On the other side of the spectrum, I was also part of a covert investigation, disguised as an audit, with high expectations for fraud to be uncovered, only to come out empty-handed. Despite the tip we had received, we couldn’t quite put our fingers on the fraud, although there were indications of it.
Internal audit projects are minefields. We could be sowing the seeds of our destruction, but we may also be on the path to hit on something highly transformative.
In other words, and to borrow a famous line from Forrest Gump: Internal audits can be like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get.
What are some unexpected internal audit stories that you can share? Please share your experiences in the comments section below. 
Jon Taber, CPA, CIA, CFE, CFF, is an Internal Audit Manager at Casey’s, based in Ankeny, Iowa. He is also the host of the AUDIT 15 FUN podcast.
Interesting read, and I like your analogy.
Best, Abdullah Al Mahmun, CIA