A Control Without a Purpose Is Just Bureaucracy

The Problem with “Just-in-Case” Controls

Walk into any organization with a mature control environment, and you’ll find a familiar problem: controls that exist simply because someone, somewhere, at some point, said they were necessary. No one knows exactly why. The control is poorly understood, questionably useful, and hard to maintain but it sticks around because removing it feels risky.

These “just-in-case” controls clog your environment. They eat up audit hours. They generate false confidence. Worst of all, they often distract from the controls that actually matter.

Controls Should Be Designed to Do Something

A good control exists to reduce a real risk – not to impress auditors, not to complete a framework, and not to look good in a spreadsheet. It’s a deliberate decision to say: this is where we’re exposed, and this is how we’re managing it.

That starts with mapping risks to business goals. If you can’t clearly link a control to a specific risk, it might not be a control worth keeping. And if your team can’t explain what a control is meant to prevent or detect, it’s likely not working as intended.

Usefulness Beats Exhaustiveness

More controls don’t mean more safety. In fact, bloated control inventories often lead to:

  • Control fatigue for business units
  • Inefficient audits focused on low-risk areas
  • Missed signals because the noise drowns out the signal

Smart control design is about quality over quantity. Focus on where things can actually go wrong — not just where a framework says you should have coverage.

How to Know If a Control Belongs

Ask these questions:

  • What specific risk does this control address?
  • Can we measure its effectiveness?
  • Does the control owner understand it and value it?
  • Would we miss this control if it disappeared?

If you’re answering “not sure” or “probably not” too often, it’s time for a cleanup.

Purpose-Driven Controls Build Trust

When controls are intentional and well-designed, they don’t feel like red tape. They feel like support systems. They enable teams to move faster, with confidence, knowing that real risks are being managed in the background.

So let’s stop building control environments that look mature but don’t act that way. Let’s build controls that earn their keep.


Want to build a purpose-driven control environment? Let’s talk

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