This article presents experiences and conclusions of an audit approach that focuses on the thesis that universities can gain most from external impulses when actively acquired and adapted by participants. This approach dubbed ‘collegial audit’ refers to the idea of autopoietic systems according to Luhmann and the consideration that systems do not influence but rather irritate each other. Discussed in this article are shared experiences with the collegial audit approach from a cooperation project between two German and two Vietnamese universities. The main finding is that the collegial audit contributes to an exchange among reliable partners on equal terms, as the change in the role of the external parties from evaluators to questioners has strengthened the actors’ readiness to reflect. The cultural differences of the participating universities were challenging but proved to be conducive to the idea of irritation provoking reflection on adaptation.