15 Principles. 15 Films. 15 Questions.
This idea began after an audit training session I delivered. I was talking with a colleague about the Global Internal Audit Standards when a simple thought occurred to me: their principles matter far beyond internal audit.
Integrity. Objectivity. Competence. Care. Independence. Communication. Quality. Judgement.
They matter at work but also matter in life.
So I tried something different.
I took the 15 principles and paired each with a famous film — not because the films are about audit, but because they are about people making decisions under pressure, with incomplete information, limited resources and real consequences.
The Hunt makes us think about objectivity.
The Equalizer about competence.
The Martian about resources.
Arrival about communication.
Spotlight about evidence.
The Standards give us the principles. Cinema gives us the consequences.
And each film leaves us with one question. Because the purpose of this essay is not to explain fifteen Standards.
It is to ask whether fifteen professional principles can help us judge a little better outside the profession too.
The film ends. The decision doesn’t.
A.C. Coppola