with Judith Davis at Home Depot
## Strategy Workshop Summary ### Key Themes The workshop revealed a fundamental tension between Home Depot's stated strategic priority (Home Services growth) and actual resource allocation patterns that favor the established Pro division. Three key forces emerged: 1. **Resource Competition:** Home Services has $5B targets but investment flows to Pro 2. **Organizational Inertia:** Central strategy team feels sidelined from Home Services work 3. **Integration Load:** SRS acquisition consuming 60% of PM capacity, limiting innovation ### Breakthrough Moment Sarah Chen's support was the biggest win. Having the SVP Operations backing Home Services changes the internal dynamics significantly. Her Amazon experience with similar organizational challenges adds credibility to the case for dedicated investment. ### Participant Energy & Engagement - **Judith Davis:** High energy, candid about challenges, grateful for the forum - **David Frank:** Practical, transparent about capacity constraints, engaged on competitor intel - **Sarah Chen:** Measured but supportive, added operational credibility, praised the format - **Michael Torres:** Initially reserved, became more candid about strategy team dynamics ### Next Steps 1. Pablo to send force map and summary within 48 hours 2. Schedule leadership presentation planning session with Judith 3. David to share SRS integration timeline 4. Sarah to provide One Supply Chain roadmap for alignment
“The Pro investment isn't competing with Home Services. It's actually enabling the supply chain infrastructure that Home Services will rely on.”
“Something has to give, and right now what's giving is innovation.”
“There's a perception that Home Services is Judith's project, and the rest of us are focused on the core business.”
Judith, beyond the headline metrics, what does success for Home Services look like to you personally in the next 12 months?
Asked a variation of this. Judith opened up about the pressure of the VP promotion
David, with the SRS integration consuming so much capacity, what would need to be true for your team to shift focus to innovation?
Asked directly. David gave the 60% capacity figure which was a key data point
Sarah, you've seen this dynamic at Amazon, what did you learn about what actually works to get organizational machinery to support a new division?
Sarah's response was the turning point of the session, she became an active ally
For everyone: if we could only solve one organizational blocker in the next 90 days, what would have the biggest impact on Home Services momentum?
Ran out of time, this would have been a powerful closing question. Need to protect time for this in future workshops.
"We can't deprioritize Pro, it's still 80% of revenue"
Sarah actually handled this one by reframing Pro and Home Services as complementary rather than competing. Better outcome than planned.
Lowe's Pro loyalty program competitive data
David's reaction confirmed this was genuinely new information. He asked for the full analysis afterward.
Send force map and workshop summary to all participants
Schedule leadership presentation planning session with Judith
David to share SRS integration timeline and capacity impact analysis
Sarah to provide One Supply Chain roadmap for Home Services alignment
Best workshop yet with this team. The dynamic shifted when Sarah spoke up. Need to nurture that alliance.
