January 28, 2026
Internal controls are often designed for ideal conditions. Clear desks. Plenty of time. Fully staffed teams. No competing deadlines. Real life looks nothing like that.
Pressure changes behaviour
Under pressure, even well-trained people:
- Skip steps
- Rely on memory
- Take shortcuts
- Make judgement calls
This isn’t negligence — it’s human behaviour. Controls that only work when conditions are perfect are fragile by design.
Where controls tend to break
We most often see controls fail:
- At handover points
- When volumes spike
- During staff absences
- In periods of change
These are precisely the moments controls should be strongest.
Designing for reality, not theory
Resilient controls:
- Assume people will be busy
- Minimise reliance on memory
- Are embedded into workflows
- Make the right action the easiest one
When controls align with how work actually happens, compliance improves naturally.
Pressure is the real test
Internal controls shouldn’t just exist, they should hold up when it matters most. If a control collapses under pressure, it isn’t a control. It’s a suggestion.
At Karenu, we focus on building controls that support people under real-world pressure, not just on paper. If your controls (or lack thereof) are keeping you up at night, let’s see how we can solve that together.