An uncomfortable feeling

When you are auditing how an organization has treated its context analysis according to ISO 9001:2015,  you may conclude that the organization has answered to all requeriments and yet... feel some how uncomfortable with the exercise. An organization may tick all requirements and yet miss the most important.

I found this passage that I think applies to this feeling:

"As you will see, auditing is concerned with seeking to provide a level of confirmation (or assurance) that an organization has addressed reasonably foreseeable significant risks to its operations and to the achievement of its objectives with a suitable framework (or series of interconnected frameworks) for internal control.

...

Along with providing assurance for the present, auditing should also provide a future focused view of the suitability of this control framework(s) for the changing business environments of the months and years ahead. Information about the future is generally much more valuable to managers than information about the present or the past."

Sometimes it is not easy to communicate that feeling to the organization. You are an auditor not a consultant, and it is not easy to judge the strategic thinking skills of a top management team. 

Sometimes those that are not immersed in a specific situation, that don't live it daily are more aware of the background trends.

 

Passage from "Health and safety, environment and quality audits: a risk-based approach" from Stephen Asbury.