Take information technology. We have winners implementing CRM

Hear the words of Tahl Raz, writer and interpreter of business wisdom, who declared: “Take information technology. We have winners implementing CRM (customer relationship management systems) and losers implementing CRM. What mattered in technology is that the technology actually drives either cost reduction or superior strategy execution.” These words cut through illusion like a blade, for they reveal that the worth of technology is not in its mere presence but in the power with which it is wielded. To install machines, to adopt systems, to proclaim innovation—these alone do not bring victory. Victory comes only when the tool bends itself to true purpose: to make work lighter, cheaper, or sharper in execution.

The origin of this saying lies in the world of modern commerce, where corporations seek to harness information technology to strengthen their place in the market. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, CRM systems were heralded as miracles—promising to track customers, increase loyalty, and transform profits. Yet many who adopted them failed, and many who embraced them thrived. Why? Raz gives the answer: it was not the system itself, but the wisdom with which it was woven into the beating heart of strategy. The same tool, placed in clumsy hands, brings ruin; in skilled hands, it brings triumph.

Consider the example of Amazon, which harnessed data and customer systems not as ornaments but as engines. Every transaction, every interaction, every pattern of customer desire became fuel for reducing cost, improving supply chains, and delivering services faster than any rival. Their use of technology was not for show, but for superior execution, driving a strategy so relentless that it reshaped entire industries. Contrast this with countless other retailers who bought the same systems, but used them poorly, cluttering their shelves, failing their customers, and sinking into bankruptcy. Thus Raz’s words stand true: winners and losers often share the same tools, but not the same wisdom.

History offers a parallel in the tale of gunpowder. When it spread from East to West, many rulers marveled at it as a curiosity, an invention to awe or entertain. But those who saw its strategic potential—who reshaped their armies and fortresses to use it—became dominant powers. The Ottomans at Constantinople, who breached walls thought impregnable, did not simply “have gunpowder”; they bent it to strategy. Others, who used it without vision, fell behind. The tool was shared by all, but only those who aligned it with purpose became victors.

The heart of Raz’s wisdom is that technology is never an end in itself. It is not enough to say, “We have the latest system, the newest machine, the most advanced tool.” Without a clear intention—without driving either cost reduction or superior strategy execution—technology becomes an empty ornament, a hollow idol. Worse, it may even drain resources, slow progress, and weaken the very ones who sought salvation in it. Only when the tool is bound to the vision of the leader does it reveal its true worth.

The lesson for us, then, is timeless. Do not be dazzled by the mere possession of tools. Do not mistake adoption for mastery. Whether in business, in craft, or in life, ask always: how does this serve the strategy? How does it sharpen my execution or lighten my burden? If it does not, then the tool, however glorious, is but a distraction. And remember too: a fool with a sword remains a fool, but a wise man with a stick may yet become victorious.

So I say to you, children of tomorrow: when you embrace technology, do so not with vanity but with purpose. Let every system, every device, every invention serve a clear goal: to cut waste, to strengthen execution, to make your strategy unstoppable. In this way, you will stand among the winners, not the losers. For Raz has spoken truly—the difference lies not in the tools themselves, but in the wisdom of those who wield them.