In chess, grandmasters still beat computers, but only when they break the rules. My team once trained a team of data analysts for a multinational bank. They had dashboards that blinked like Christmas trees, powered by AI and machine learning. Beautiful charts, predictive models, and Real-time sentiment analysis. Yet, they still failed to detect a UGX 3 billion fraud that a junior teller had flagged, based on “something just felt off.” That was the moment the CEO realized: data gives you signals, but only humans give them meaning. We are entering an era where algorithms tell you what is happening. But not why, not…

At a leadership retreat for one of East Africa’s largest manufacturing groups, I observed a striking contrast. The CEO, a numbers man to the core, proudly explained his five-year strategic plan, full of complex Excel forecasts and market penetration assumptions. Midway through his PowerPoint, the Chair interrupted: “This sounds impressive. But tell me, how much of this is chess, and how much is dice?” The room went silent. You could even hear a pin drop. That question deserves to haunt every boardroom. Too many leaders confuse structured execution with strategic thought. They roll the dice, hoping for luck in forex…

At a government agency, I met an internal auditor who was technically brilliant, had all the credentials. Knew every policy. But every board meeting, she was asked to “just present the audit plan and findings.” Then sidelined. I pulled her aside and asked, “Why don’t you present the risk strategy instead?” She replied, “That’s for the CEO and strategy people.” I laughed. That’s the problem. She didn’t own the seat. She borrowed it. Six months later, I coached her to repackage her reports: start with a business objective, show the strategic risk, highlight lost revenue or operational drag, and then…

Yesterday, 25th June 2025, I engaged with two different boards. The contrast was surgical. The first board invited me to sit in as they reviewed a strategy I had recently facilitated. These are my favourite sessions: not just because they validate the rigour of the strategy work, but because they reveal the board’s true character. You see the interplay where the Chair manages dissent without silencing, members reveal personal bets masked as fiduciary concern, and decisions are shaped by legacy, not minutes. It worked. The Chair steered with firmness and grace. They knew where the board added value, and more…

There was once a village plagued by livestock theft. So they hired a watchman. Each night, he locked the front gate, inspected the fence, and logged everything in his notebook. Every morning, he presented his report: “No breach. All controls in place.” Yet the goats kept disappearing. Turns out, the thief wasn’t breaking in. He was the trusted farmhand, walking out through the side gate, laughing at the audit reports. This is the tragedy of Risk-Based Internal auditing today. We are securing the gates our frameworks told us to monitor, while real risk walks out the side door of flawed…

I once visited a factory in Namanve where the manager’s office had no door. Not because the company was broke, but because, according to him, “I want to be accessible at all times.” Noble idea. Deadly in execution. Every five minutes, someone walked in. A supplier with an invoice. A technician with a broken switch. A clerk asking for airtime. At the end of my shadowing day, the manager had completed zero high-value work. He had traded accessibility for irrelevance. If you are always available, you are never effective. The problem is not the distractions. It is your tolerance for them. We glorify…