There’s a great scene in The Agony and the Ecstasy where Pope Julius, played by Rex Harrison, reacts to the paint dribbles from Michelangelo’s perpetual work on the Sistine Chapel. He’s processing out of the chapel after Mass and Charlton Heston, in his role as the great artist, has unceremoniously spilled paint on the pontiff’s vestments. Julius looks up with supplicant’s hands raised and mouths one of the recurring themes of the movie: “When will you make an end?”

That scene comes to mind often when I’m auditing. Auditees, especially senior managers, anticipate that they’ll some day experience the perfect audit—one in which there are no nonconformities and no opportunities for improvement. Then they can put some kind of permaseal glaze over their entire quality management system to preserve it forever and not concern themselves with any further tweaking or document revisions.

For some things in life, expecting eventual closure is understandable; you want something to be finally completed, finished, done, checked forever off the to-do list of life. Audits don’t fall into this category.

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