Book of the Week

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Recommended by Knut Wiwen-Nilsson

Shoe Dog, written by Phil Knight (CEO of Nike), documents his creation of the multi-billion dollar company, which has recently surpassed $30 billion in sales, and whose poignant 'swoosh' logo is universally recognised.

The book takes the reader through the hectic, perilous and distressing journey that Knight underwent, and refreshingly gives no indication of prognostic success. From the early days of Blue Ribbon (his initial company which consisted of selling individual pairs of shoes manually) to the global domination of Nike, Knight describes his journey honestly and exceptionally well, considering he is an obsessive businessman, not a writer.

Throughout the book, Knight willingly reveals many things about himself, which is rare for a CEO of his calibre to do. Knight does not adhere to the confident, intrepid stereotype of a budding entrepreneur; instead he reveals his introverted, timid and often insecure nature. Knight hints that he is a man of ticks and obsessive mannerisms such as snapping rubber bands on his wrist, or hugging himself when stressed or in a hostile, uncomfortable environment. Knight reveals that it took him weeks to tell Penny, his future wife, that he 'liked' her, which would not be expected of the founder of one of the most dominant companies in the world. Yet despite these features which would be considered flaws, Knight was still able to conjure up what he refers to as his 'crazy idea' which revolutionised the world of sport.

In the first 30 pages or so, Knight carefully narrates his travels in places ranging from the foot of the Great Sphinx in Cairo, to Kobe in Japan, telling us of his observations and of the lessons he learnt. One which stood out was the 'kei' he received in his first meeting with Onitsuka (Knight’s initial shoe supplier). The reader becomes riveted by the inspiration Knight took from each of his destinations during his period of travel. Most notably, Knight kept the image of the Temple of Athena Nike. He mentions the ancient Greek word 'nike' meaning victory, and strongly emphasises his obsession with that one destination above all others, saying 'I don’t know how long I stood there, absorbing the energy and power of that epochal place.'

Knight’s interest in running shoes started at the University of Oregon, where he was coached by the legendary Bill Bowerman, whom he idolised. He then went on to Stanford to complete his MBA, for which he wrote a paper about the potential market for importing Japanese athletic shoes to the U.S. I admire how he pursued this thesis and market despite the isolation of Japan from the commercial world.

Knight is surprisingly open about the accidental nature of Nike’s success. The reader gets a strong impression of failure leading to coincidental new horizons and opportunities in Shoe Dog. Knight reveals that he paid an art student $35 to design the Nike logo, and didn’t recognize what a special logo it would become. “It’ll have to do,” he said at the time. He reportedly wanted to name it 'Dimension Six', but was pushed against it by his employees. Knight also tells us of his rocky relationship with his Japanese shoe supplier, whose executives were constantly eyeing other potential U.S. partners such as the depised 'Marlboro Man'. Despite Knight’s success promoting Blue Ribbon’s shoes, the Japanese executives’ hostility forced Knight to break away and start Nike, which most probably seemed catastrophic to him at the time, but ultimately turned out to be a blessing.

There is no one fundamental message that can be taken from this book. Instead, Phil Knight opens up the seemingly impenetrable shells of mega companies and their CEOs, and powerfully nullifies the misconception of a smooth riding business.