Phill knight, the founder of Nike lays out an autobiography and a history of Nike. I expected a book about business; there is some of that but there are two other important aspects as well. I would slice Knights book into three categories. 1. Myth and narrative, 2. People and Relationships. 3. Business and Processes. After describing his childhood and collegiate career in brief, the book kicks off with Knight’s young and carefree around-the-world tour of myth, he discusses greek mythology, naturally touching on Nike the goddess of victory, but also dwelling in India, Japan, and other cultures.
Knight’s fascination with myth and narrative becomes obvious here. He discusses religion and philosophy, and while he clearly is trying to impress at times, unlike Carnegie, the overall tone is not pedantic. “There were many ways down Mount Fuji, according to my guidebook, but only one way up. Life lesson in that, I thought. Signs” His story is filled with overt symbolism like this. Throughout the book, he returns to the idea of narrative, perhaps adequately summarized by this quote. “Like books, sports give people a sense of having lived other lives, of taking part in other people’s victories. And defeats. When sports are at their best, the spirit of the fan merges with the spirit of the athlete.” You can tell he belongs in the world of story, the way he implicitly shaped his history into the Hero’s Journey makes this obvious.
The central battle of the book people is primarily about learning to work with business counterparts, especially foreign ones. He goes into deep detail about culture, language, practices, and people that made doing business with Japan, Korea, and Mexico so different. Knight is a global capitalist of the old school order. Indeed, my gratest complaint about the book it’s that Knight fails to appreciate the unique economy provided by the US and paints China and the Vietcong in Rosie terms. When current CEO John Donahoe stated in Nike’s June 2021 earnings call “Nike is a brand that is of China and for China” it was a statement in line with Knights founding ideology. Not necessarily that he’s supporting gross human rights violations, but that he believes the world should be absolutely open regardless of political tensions; it’s a myopic view.
He’s not just interested in the culture of peoples, he also shows deep interest in the people of cultures, spending page after page describing important relationships with everyone from his coach and cofounder Bill Bowerman (the Merlin to Knight’s King Arthur) to Japanese counterparts, childhood friends and archatypal competitors. “He was easy to talk to, and easy not to talk to – equally important qualities in a friend: essential in a travel companion.” The charachters make this book thoroughly engaging.
As far as business goes, Shoe Dog doesn’t compare to The innovators Dillema, Seven Habits or even Engagement Magic, but he does have some interesting things to say. Knight’s great idea was that the emerging Japanese manufacturing sector would allow him to sell a quality cheaper shoe than Puma and Adidas. He also talks about some of the key strategies that guided him. “I refused to even consider ordering less inventory. Grow or die, that’s what I believed, no matter the situation.” His thoughts on talent aquisition were also interesting. Bizzarly, most of Nike’s higher ups had never been runners but almost all (including Knight) had been Accountants or Lawyers. Knight said he was looking for “sharp minds”. “That was our priority, and accountants and lawyers had at least proved that they could master a difficult subject and pass a big test… Most also demonstrated basic competence. When you hired an accountant, you knew he or she could count. When you hired a lawyer, you knew he or she could talk.” Knight’s basic take on the business angle of the book is summed up best in this quote.
“When you make something, when you improve something, when you deliver something, when you add some new thing or service to the lives of strangers, making them happier, or healthier, or safer, or better, and when you do it all crisply and efficiently, smartly, the way everything should be done but so seldom is—you’re participating more fully in the whole grand human drama. More than simply alive, you’re helping others to live more fully, and if that’s business, all right, call me a businessman. Maybe it will grow on me.”
That is business Mr. Knight. Time to embrace it.