If you handed four golfers the exact same clubs, the same golf balls, the same swing thoughts, the same shoes, and the same high‑tech sunglasses…would they shoot the same score?
Of course not.
One of them might quietly walk onto the course and shoot several strokes lower than everyone else—not because of the equipment, but because he’s mastered the game.
So why do so many businesses assume that “all IT companies are the same” just because they use the same tools, the same software, and the same industry frameworks?
The Myth of Sameness: Tools Don’t Create Masters
In golf, everyone has access to the same basic equipment. A weekend golfer can buy the same irons Tiger Woods uses. But owning Tiger’s clubs doesn’t mean you’ll play like Tiger.
IT companies are no different.
They can all show you the same slide decks:
- “We use the EOS Traction system.”
- “We run Level 10 meetings.”
- “We leverage personality assessments for hiring.”
- “We have cybersecurity best practices.”
On paper, they look identical.
But mastery is not evenly distributed.
Many MSPs claim to run EOS. But ask their leadership team how many Level 10 meetings they’ve skipped this year…or how many issues actually get resolved instead of recycled every week. The difference between using a framework and mastering it is the difference between hitting a bucket of balls on Saturday and living, eating, and breathing golf every day.
Mastery Requires Obsession, Not Ownership
You can hand two IT companies the exact same hiring tools—DISC, Predictive Index, Kolbe, Myers‑Briggs, Culture Index—but the results will vary wildly.
Most companies administer personality tests.
A few truly understand them.
The average hiring manager might glance at a chart and say, “Looks good.”
The master sees a potential hire’s risk zones, communication defaults, motivators, stress responses, and team fit—and can predict with startling accuracy whether the person will thrive.
The same goes for technical operations. Nearly every MSP says they run a “pod structure” or have “dedicated engineers.” But only a handful have:
- optimized engineer ratios
- built true knowledge‑sharing loops
- eliminated ticket ping‑pong
- engineered a culture of ownership
Just as in golf, anyone can swing a club, but very few have put in the thousands of hours required to swing it right.
Synergy: Where Mastery Compounds Into Something Rare
Mastering one part of running an IT company is admirable.
Mastering several is rare.
Mastering all of them—EOS, hiring, onboarding, engineering structure, cybersecurity frameworks, client experience, month‑to‑month contracts, proactive culture—is nearly mythical.
But when mastery occurs across multiple domains, something powerful happens:
the parts begin to reinforce each other.
It’s the same synergy found in a world‑class golfer. Tiger Woods wasn’t great just because he had a strong drive or a beautiful short game. He mastered:
- swing mechanics
- fitness
- mental toughness
- course strategy
- recovery
- discipline
- coaching feedback
- relentless practice
Many golfers have one of these.
Few have all of them.
That’s why Tiger wasn’t just a good golfer—he was a once-in-a-generation phenomenon.
In the same way, a truly exceptional IT company may look ordinary on the surface—same tools, same tech stack, same platforms—but beneath the surface lies an engine of discipline, practice, repetition, and mastery nobody else can see.
That’s the rainbow‑colored unicorn.
Conclusion: Choosing an IT Company Isn’t About the Clubs—they all have the same clubs
If you judge golfers by the equipment in their bags, you’ll pick the wrong champion every time.
If you judge IT companies by the tools on their website, you’ll do the same.
The question isn’t:
- Do you run EOS?
- Do you use personality assessments?
- Do you follow a pod structure?
The question is:
Who has mastered the craft?
Who has practiced until it became muscle memory?
Who eats, sleeps, and breathes this work the way Tiger lived the game of golf?
Because in both golf and IT, the difference between the average and the extraordinary never comes from the equipment…
It comes from the master swinging it.
