A super luxury music festival in the Bahamas for the rich and famous. The one with yachts, models, and blink-182.
It was the festival that had everything. What could possibly go wrong?
Well ironically, everything!
Tickets sold out. Influencers hyped it to the moon. But when guests arrived on the island, there was no accommodation, no catering, and all the artists had bailed.
There was no festival. Just row upon row of disaster-relief tents, which in all fairness to the organisers, was perfectly on-theme.
The problem? They started the party before they were ready.
It wasn’t bad luck. It wasn’t sabotage. It was rushing ahead without the essentials locked down.
Sound familiar?
That, wrapped up in a neat little story, is “The Definition of Ready” rule.
Too many audits go the Fyre Festival route. They launch into sections of their audit with just enough info to probably make it work, promising themselves “We’ll come back to it later”.
But later means rewinding, re-reading, and wondering where the hell you left off. Later means a lot of unnecessary wasted time.
Let’s be clear about how things should be. You don’t start an audit section unless everything is ready.
And ready isn’t a vibe. It’s binary. Either you have 100% of the documents and data, or you don’t. There’s no grey area.
I know it’s tempting to get going and feel like you’re making progress, but that will come back and bite you. The quick route is the slowest in the long run.
So, here’s the rule, in plain English. No documents? No audit.
Need to chase the client for something?
Great. Chase it.
Still waiting for a bank confirmation?
Fine. Pick up the phone.
Need to find something on a mess of a hard drive?
Get sifting.
But whatever you do, don’t open that section until you have everything. Don’t half-ass the planning. Wait until you’re ready and bring your whole ass.
Adopt the Definition of Ready rule like it’s gospel. Define it in your firm. Agree on what ready means for each section. Specific docs, data, confirmations, you name it, and don’t cross the start line until the checklist is complete.
Your audits will be faster, and your team will thank you for not dragging them round in half-finished circles that last all night.
This is Rule #1 for a reason. And it’s just the beginning.
There are nine more where this came from.
Rule #2 pending.
Regards,
Christiaan
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