Reading reflection no. 3

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Is written from the perspective of Phil Knight, the creator of Nike, it is narrated around when he started the business and traveled the world.

What surprised me the most was how real and relatable Phil Knight was, he was so human he went at a normal pace and followed his own path. What I most admired was how interested he was in finding meaning, looking for it in other cultures religions, something that I can relate to. What I least admired was the constant lies he’d tell in business, but it did get him to create styles in this brand that I love. Phil encountered adversity and failure multiple times throughout his career, selling shoes part time while accounting or teaching, the main set back was tensions that arose between his supplier Onitsuka Tiger, this resulted in him finding a new supplier and changing the name of his business Blue Ribbon to Nike and also changing the design to a swoop.

The entrepreneur looked to history to help him start his business, following how the Japanese camera company Kodak took over the German camera business in the past he wanted to use Japanese suppliers to help take over the shoe business.

A part of the reading that was confusing to me was why he lied, again, about having two retail stores in America he was selling his shoes from, why he would buy a new retail story when he couldn’t afford it and didn’t have the time for it.

I’d ask the entrepreneur why wasn’t he truthful in some parts of his business, why he hadn’t created Blue Ribbon before and also why he hadn’t waited to open a second store? Also, why didn’t he put all his attention into selling shoes, why did he keep switching careers?

I think Phil Knight’s opinion of hard work would be that you can lie sometimes to get there. I don’t believe in this opinion because its just a quick scary route, should be truthful throughout a business’s career so it doesn’t come back to haunt you.