Your tools are commodities. Everyone can get access to them today. In fact, everyone does access the tools. The case, more often than not, is that they are underused, misused or irrelevant in most people’s business. The tools are a lot like sports equipment. There is a lot of hype to get someone to buy a workout machine, tennis racquet or bike. Visit the typical person in 6 months, and you find them as artifacts in de facto storage.

We live in an age of abundance. Tools are cheap and ubiquitous. If tools were the answer, then everyone would be wildly successful in their business. Such is not the case. There is typically a giant blind spot which makes success elusive. It has to do with strategy. Strategy is the enabler for making tools part of a system which makes money. Strategy comes from thinkers that can see the opportunities and deliver specific, relevant and timely systems to exploit those opportunities. Strategy comes from talent, not tools.

Putting the pieces together is much more of a challenge in an age of abundance. As tools continue to commoditize and approach in many cases, a zero price point, the real challenge lies in creating the processes which drive business results.

Social media does not make money for most businesses. Strategic lead nurturing does. Adwords is often expensive and wasteful. Relevant campaigns to connect and entice a clicker is what makes the return on investment.

From the outside, successful businesses and people look like they can be mimicked if we acquire the same accessories and tools they use. It is a grave misconception. Under the hood, they have refined an art form into a system. An actress makes her lines look easy. To be like her would mean to start the journey of countless iterations and working on the minutiae which separates mediocre from great performers. So it goes in today’s economy.

The truth is, talented people can take multiple tools to achieve the same result. A tennis pro can use any racquet and still outplay the vast majority of people. A world-class cook can use Wal-Mart cooking utensils and deliver a much more elegant meal than a housewife who has Williams Sonoma class cookware. It’s the player, not the racquet. It’s the cook, not the cookware. So it goes, it’s the talent, not the tools. Perhaps your success is only elusive because you see the gadgets and not the goal. Get the right talent and let them leverage the tools to help you. Focus only on the talent you truly have, which is likely one or two specialties. Strategy always trumps good tools.

Go to the grocery store and buy all the ingredients you will need. Next, go to Williams and Sonoma and get the best cookware and utensils. Sit in front of the television and take careful notes. Mimic the cook and see if your dinner dish comes out as succulent as you saw.

Are you now a world class cook? Now that you have all the required tools, accessories and instructions, can you serve in the finest restaurants? How about if you read the manual, a good cook book?

What makes a world class cook? If we break down all the elements to their sterile descriptions as we illustrated here, we get a picture, but not necessarily the essence of what it takes to be a gourmet chef. No, there is a much larger price to pay for such excellence that people praise and have demand for.

Many products sell because they help us build illusions of approaching excellence. Skateboarders buy boards and shoes of their idols to help them believe they can skate better. Kids buy sports equipment endorsed by their sports heroes to supposedly help them play better. Business professionals buy the gadgets, devices and tools they see the people getting ahead using. There must be some advantage if the tools work for this person.

Too often we are caught copying the wrong thing. The tools we use are a small piece of any actual success. Talent and know-how far outweigh any tools. Many companies that have the same CRM systems have vastly different results stemming from how one corporation chooses to win with customers using CRM and another just has a fancy piece of software and is still losing.

Two people reading the same popular business book have far different returns on investment based on how they each apply the knowledge. The book does not make things happen. It is the person who knows how to act on the knowledge.

We are living in an increasingly complex world. In complexity there is great opportunity. The opportunity goes to those who know how to put the pieces together to build value. We live in a world where websites are boring. However, positioning creates value and income. A website is only a part of that process.

Don’t get mesmerized by the tools, the sneakers, the software, or any piece of commodity a person or company has. Having these do help; however, fixating on such things could leave you more spellbound than truly building value. How you use the accessories is what matters. The fact is that all the pieces exist for you to build what you need for your endeavors and success. Recognize that the real value is in how well or how poor you are at knowing what to do with the instruments for success. The wise person will focus on either paying the brain bill to grow and learn how to put the pieces together to get ahead or hire the people who know how.

This economy is filled with those who keep running into their own blind spot; they believe they just need a little help to get on their way or they can do what a true expert can do. All the while, time is lost and success becomes elusive. Get great tools, but know when you are not the person to use them for the best results. That will help you get ahead far faster than struggling through the illusion you can do it when someone else can do it easier, faster and cheaper.