#13 – Reading Reflection No. 1
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in running or how Nike got its start.
1) Honestly, I was first surprised at where the name Nike came from. It never occurred to me that it would come from the Greek Goddess Athena, and stand for “victory.” Also, the entire process that Phil Knight went through in order to get Nike started and how far it’s come today is truly inspiring. He went through so many obstacles, but never lost sight of his end goal. He’s an ideal candidate for what ambition looks like. I admired how he never gave up on his idea or company. He was a very driven individual, and you could tell he was passionate about his product and running in general. His belief in running and in the shoes made customers irresistible to buying, which really helped kick start his business. Knight also claimed that the company had “no fear of failure” meaning that yes they knew they had potential to fail, and actually had every expectation to fail, but if that ever happened, they would view it as a learning experience and get better from it. I think that’s an admirable mindset to have when starting a business. Entrepreneurs have to understand that it won’t always be easy and things won’t always go in the right direction - you have to be willing to fail and continue to better yourselves from it. I least admired how he “cheated” the business on certain occasions, whether it was stealing documents from his first manufacturing supplier, lying to employees about the status and transformation of the business, or hiring a spy to keep tabs on the Japanese factory conversations. Those acts were all unethical in nature, but got him to where he is today. It also bothered me that he was bad at communicating with some of his employees. Knight has a laissez-faire management style. When reflecting back on the book, the entrepreneur faced so much adversity and was close to failing multiple times. However, Knight somehow always came through with an answer. He maintained composure in chaos because he knew he had to keep it together for his team and his family. He continued to work hard and never give up on his passion. As he stated in his book, “front runners always work the hardest, and risk the most.” He was indeed a front runner for starting Nike and taking on more risks than he ever thought.
2) Phil Knight exhibited many competencies throughout his entrepreneurship endeavor. He was a goal-oriented, creative, convincing, driven, passionate and very inspirational leader. He also exhibited teamwork and understood the importance of being on a team since he participated in sports growing up. And nonetheless, he exhibited true perseverance and tenaciousness.
3) Nothing was too confusing about the book, except how Blue Ribbon's cash flows never added up, or how Knight was always in trouble with the bank. It seemed like every month Blue Ribbon was going to go bankrupt or wipe their accounts empty when paying back the manufacturing facilities and employees, even though their sales were doubling every time. I know the banks kept telling Knight to save money and build his equity, but he never listened. It might just be that I don’t understand finance all that well, but I’d say that’s the one thing that had me confused when reading.
HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in running or how Nike got its start.
1) Honestly, I was first surprised at where the name Nike came from. It never occurred to me that it would come from the Greek Goddess Athena, and stand for “victory.” Also, the entire process that Phil Knight went through in order to get Nike started and how far it’s come today is truly inspiring. He went through so many obstacles, but never lost sight of his end goal. He’s an ideal candidate for what ambition looks like. I admired how he never gave up on his idea or company. He was a very driven individual, and you could tell he was passionate about his product and running in general. His belief in running and in the shoes made customers irresistible to buying, which really helped kick start his business. Knight also claimed that the company had “no fear of failure” meaning that yes they knew they had potential to fail, and actually had every expectation to fail, but if that ever happened, they would view it as a learning experience and get better from it. I think that’s an admirable mindset to have when starting a business. Entrepreneurs have to understand that it won’t always be easy and things won’t always go in the right direction - you have to be willing to fail and continue to better yourselves from it. I least admired how he “cheated” the business on certain occasions, whether it was stealing documents from his first manufacturing supplier, lying to employees about the status and transformation of the business, or hiring a spy to keep tabs on the Japanese factory conversations. Those acts were all unethical in nature, but got him to where he is today. It also bothered me that he was bad at communicating with some of his employees. Knight has a laissez-faire management style. When reflecting back on the book, the entrepreneur faced so much adversity and was close to failing multiple times. However, Knight somehow always came through with an answer. He maintained composure in chaos because he knew he had to keep it together for his team and his family. He continued to work hard and never give up on his passion. As he stated in his book, “front runners always work the hardest, and risk the most.” He was indeed a front runner for starting Nike and taking on more risks than he ever thought.
2) Phil Knight exhibited many competencies throughout his entrepreneurship endeavor. He was a goal-oriented, creative, convincing, driven, passionate and very inspirational leader. He also exhibited teamwork and understood the importance of being on a team since he participated in sports growing up. And nonetheless, he exhibited true perseverance and tenaciousness.
3) Nothing was too confusing about the book, except how Blue Ribbon's cash flows never added up, or how Knight was always in trouble with the bank. It seemed like every month Blue Ribbon was going to go bankrupt or wipe their accounts empty when paying back the manufacturing facilities and employees, even though their sales were doubling every time. I know the banks kept telling Knight to save money and build his equity, but he never listened. It might just be that I don’t understand finance all that well, but I’d say that’s the one thing that had me confused when reading.
*Blue Ribbon was the name of the company before Knight changed it to Nike, Inc.
4) First and foremost, how can I get a job working at Nike? It’s always been a dream of mine to work there, especially in the Nike World Headquarters. Second, there are many questions that come to mind because I didn’t know beforehand how many obstacles Phil Knight went through in order to start Nike and grow it to the company it is now. How did you continue to persevere when things went wrong so many times? How were you comfortable with living “on the float,” knowing that you would be bankrupt some days? What kept you motivated to keep going forward? Where did you get the courage to fly to Japan by yourself at age 24 and set out on your Crazy Idea? Did you ever think the company would come this far when you first started?
5) His opinion of hard work was noted from the very beginning of the book. He worked harder every time his company was close to failing, trying to make sure it stayed afloat. Overall, as an athlete, he believed that an individual could not succeed without hard work, and I totally agree.
4) First and foremost, how can I get a job working at Nike? It’s always been a dream of mine to work there, especially in the Nike World Headquarters. Second, there are many questions that come to mind because I didn’t know beforehand how many obstacles Phil Knight went through in order to start Nike and grow it to the company it is now. How did you continue to persevere when things went wrong so many times? How were you comfortable with living “on the float,” knowing that you would be bankrupt some days? What kept you motivated to keep going forward? Where did you get the courage to fly to Japan by yourself at age 24 and set out on your Crazy Idea? Did you ever think the company would come this far when you first started?
5) His opinion of hard work was noted from the very beginning of the book. He worked harder every time his company was close to failing, trying to make sure it stayed afloat. Overall, as an athlete, he believed that an individual could not succeed without hard work, and I totally agree.
Hi Taylor!
ReplyDeleteInteresting reading that you read on the up brining of Nike! I am very amazed how Nike really came from the greek goddess Athena. I love greek mythology so this truly amazed me in how Nike used this as part of their logo. Furthermore, Phil Knight resembled an entrepreneur that never gave up hope for his company. His life and how he went about brining his company shows throughout the world! Great job!
Kaitlin
Taylor, I really enjoyed reading about your review of Shoe Dog. In answering the first question of the assignment, I like how you pointed out how Phil Knight's belief in his shoes and in the sport of running made his company so irresistible to consumers. This shows how an entrepreneur's mindset can make or break the success of their product or service. Failure can be right over the horizon for some entrepreneurs, but having the strong-minded will to achieve success can help a product make it through its initial trials.
ReplyDeleteHello Taylor, you made a pretty interesting choice of biography to write a review. Personally, I have always like wearing Nike soccer shoes and learning those key point from your reading reflection made me understand how much is behind every pair of shoes. When you talk about his unethical practices makes me wonder how many more dirty tricks he had to pull out.
ReplyDeleteHey Taylor!
ReplyDeleteBefore reading your post, I never really knew anything about Phil Knight - I know very little about Nike in general. Just learning about how the name of the company was formulated absolutely amazed me! The one lesson that life has taught me thus far is being able to communicate effectively. It is extremely difficult to accomplish almost anything without proper communication, so I definitely believe that Phil Knight could have benefited from it.
I enjoyed learning more about this entrepreneur from your post.
Matthew Mrnacaj