Bernie Marcus: The Home Depot Story [Outliers]

Knowledge Project

Intro

Sixteen lessons learned from Bernie Marcus, the outlier: 
Bad money is worse than no money.Outcome over ego.Every customer is on loan.Bureaucracy is a fungus.Pitchers need Catchers.Promotions are an addiction; low prices are a discipline.It’s not a value until it costs you money.Win-Win or walk away.Hire people better than you.The best information isn’t in a spreadsheet; it’s in the customer walking out empty-handed.Invisible benefits often outweigh visible costs.The one-man show doesn’t scale.Instincts beat spreadsheets.The money is the scorecard, not the motivator.You’re never as smart as you think you are.Sometimes the company outgrows the people.
Home Depot’s “Customer Bill of Rights” – the six things a customer wants to pay for: 
1. The right assortment2. The right quantities3. The right price4. Associates on the sales floor who want to take care of customers5. Associates who have been properly trained in product knowledge
Culture isn’t what you say, it’s what you repeatedly do 

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org

Bernie Marcus is the co-founder and former CEO of Home Depot. 

This is how he built a culture of ownership, kept going when everyone turned him down, nearly lost it all, and created one of the most successful retailers in history. 

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Approximate Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:00) Part 1: An Accidental Miracle

(09:29) Part 2: A Golden Horseshoe Kick

(25:49) Part 3: Building From Nothing

(38:53) Part 4: Orange Everywhere

(49:40) Part 5: The Legacy

(54:17) Lessons

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Sources:

Marcus, Bernie, and Arthur Blank. Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion. New York: Crown Business, 1999.

Best Practice Institute. "Bernie Marcus Interview." YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNP0YYDi1FY.

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