Skip to main content

Review: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight


If you've read the other book reviews on this blog, you know that I specifically focus on business-related books. I'm not particularly a big fan of fiction nor of nonfiction that isn't of that business field.

I really don't know what made me check out Shoe Dog. I suppose it's because I saw its overwhelming popularity on Amazon. Even so, I had no idea it was an autobiography. No idea it was about Nike.

And no idea how much I would love reading this book.

CAPTIVATING AND THOUGHTFUL

Shoe Dog is an autobiography written by the cofounder of Nike, Phil Knight. But it's not particularly written in the literary genre normally seen in other biographies. Rather, Knight writes this book more as a narrative. Surprisingly, he his a fantastically gifted writer. His means of conveying his message were thoughtful and almost poetic at times.

You can't help but get enthralled by the story of Nike's humble beginnings. Initially conceived as Blue Ribbon Sports, Knight walks his readers through many of the most key events in the company's history in exquisite detail. There were times the emotions experienced by Knight could almost be felt equally by the reader. From cover to cover, the book is a joy to read.

THE HERO AND THE ANTIHERO

Nike being the beloved brand that it is today, you can't help but walk into the book instantly cheering for Knight's success. Most of the time, this holds up pretty easily. Knight and his rag tag gang scrap their way through the competition as underdogs for many years.

But not all is sunshine and roses in this story. Knight is candid about some practices that do propel Nike's success, but they aren't necessarily honorable. At those points in the narrative, I couldn't help but think negatively of Knight. At times, even, I wished Nike hadn't become the titan it is today.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh, though. It seems to me that by the end of the book, Knight is well aware of all his actions. Aware of both the positive and negative consequences. I would like to believe he would make different choices if he could again, so I do believe he ultimately redeems himself in the end.

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED

This may not have been a business book, per say, but that's not to say I didn't learn a lot. I found Knight's relationships between the top brass at Nike to be particularly interesting. This is reinforced by the fact that Stanford and Harvard have studied Nike's leadership as a means of sharing how a group like this helped the organization to grow.

There are also lessons to be learned about life in general. I found the final section of the book to be particularly thought provoking, especially in terms of death. Now, Knight is still alive even today, but it's fair to say that he is now in his twilight years. The thoughts he shares in this last section made me think a lot about my own life. What do I want to do before I die? How do I live my life like Phil Knight? It was questions like these that permeate my thoughts even after closing the back cover.


Shoe Dog might not have been a business book, but it's still one I am very happy to recommend on this blog. Aside from it being a generally excellent read, there is value to be gleaned from Knight's life and Nike's rise to glory. I would definitely encourage anybody to take some time and check it out. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Albums to Listen to This Autumn

There's no doubt in my mind that autumn is my favorite season. I love everything about it. Of course, there are the things like cooler weather and pumpkin-flavored treats, but it goes beyond that for me. Falling at the end of the year (pun not intended), autumn signals an end of sorts in a number of ways. The year is coming to a close, so I find it as a time of reflection. Nostalgia is a very appropriate word here. Anyway, music is something very important to me, and I purposefully don't latch onto a single genre of music since I since there is a time and place for everything. The fall is no exception, so I wanted to share five albums you should give a listen to this autumn. I'll even take it a step further and recommend a specific song from each album, too. Without further ado, let's get into it.
Post a Comment
Read more

"Money Only Makes You More of Who You Are"

On Christmas Day of 2002, 55-year-old Jack Whittaker was lucky enough to pick the winning numbers of the Powerball, earning him a whopping $314.9 million, the largest ever lottery win at the time. Jack was already doing pretty well for himself as the president of a construction company, so this windfall had pretty much set Jack for life. Shortly after his win, Jack seemed to have his life on track. He donated a good chunk of money to philanthropic efforts. But this lifestyle wasn't to last. Things quickly took a turn for the worse. Foolish with his money, Jack carried around enormous sums of cash in briefcases just because. Because of his reputation of carrying around this cash, he was robbed multiple times. Jack also lost a ton of money literally gambling it away. And if that isn't bad, it gets worse. Jack's granddaughter, only 17 years old, was found dead (presumably murdered), wrapped in a tarp and dumped behind a van, reportedly with many drugs in her system....
Post a Comment
Read more

Thinking Big

Steve Jobs is often cited as one of the greatest influencers in modern business, and rightfully so. He not only helped to establish one of the largest companies in the world but helped to resurrect that same company from almost certain death in the late 1990s. Time and time again, Jobs helped usher in a new idea via a new product that would ultimately revolutionize the industry again and again. Those familiar with the popular biography by Walter Isaacson will know that Jobs's sustained success had a lot to do with what people called a "reality distortion field". Under this "reality distortion field," Jobs had an almost magical influence to make people truly believe in anything Jobs had to say, regardless of how wacky it seemed at the time . Where some people looked at Jobs as insane because of this, history has proved in favor of Jobs with the success things like the original Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and even the Pixar Animated Studios. So, what was it ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who Do You Think You Are?

Worldview.  Religion.  Outlook.  Passion. Whatever word you choose, we all have some sort of identity. Some people are able to put a finger on that more easily, labeling themselves as Christian or Muslim. Some have a general sense of who they are, noting that they promote family values and being a good person. And then there's another category of people altogether. These people may not admit it to themselves, but there is a particular person, object, or idea that drives their entire lives.  This last group makes me nervous, especially when a person's identity becomes wrapped up in their job.
Post a Comment
Read more

The Problem with Hierarchical Hiring

I browse LinkedIn pretty often, and the category of things that appears most on that main feed are inspirational quotes by inspirational leaders. Folks like Richard Branson and Simon Sinek appear most often. More specifically, the quotes have a central theme to them: companies need to hire good people.  For example, one of the latest quotes I've seen on my feed include this one from Tina Fey: "In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and getting out of their way." That's a great sentiment, but is that really reinforced in reality?
Post a Comment
Read more