Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
I am not much into sports but I couldn’t resist reading about the life of a co-founder of a multi-billion-dollar company - Nike, who had started from a simple idea and pursued it with single-minded devotion.
Whenever I come across a successful writer, a business person or someone who created a beautiful, impactful life from nothing and became a somebody from a nobody, my mind raises hundreds of questions. What things did he do differently? How was his journey? What did he learn from his mistakes? Is he truly satisfied with his life? Does he have any regrets? What advice does someone who is considered a “have it all” have for the rest of us?
Most importantly, what can I learn from him?
This book is a bestseller published in 2016 and covers the years from 1962 – 1980 approx.
Observations and Insights –
I call this section as Observations and not Book Evaluation as with my other book reviews simply because I am no one to evaluate someone’s life. We all are making the best of what we have received, where we are placed and what we can do.
It takes a lot of courage to write one’s life story, to lay bare the facts, to accept mistakes, show pride in one’s achievements, reveal pain that has been long buried and to expose your wounds to millions of people who have never known you and in all possibility may misjudge you.
He had one central idea – to sell good quality sports shoes made in Japan in America and he kept working at it till he succeeded.
It is essentially the story of creation and rise of Nike, its first employees who had a huge role to play in creating the company to where it stands now, and gives us glimpses of Phil’s personal life as well – his relations with his parents, his love story with Penny his wife and his equation with his sons – Mathew and Travis.
Phil candidly accepts that he was a shy leader who spoke very less, made bad decisions, was not an available father most of the time and often succeeded in the trials of life because he was lucky. It takes an extremely humble person to accept, acknowledge and publicise these facts about oneself.
He applauded graciously and with gratitude the roles played by the first employees of Nike and the immense contribution of Bill Bowerman his running coach and co-founder of Nike.
Phil makes it clear that Nike was the result of team work. It was his brain child but it was nurtured, schooled, taught and trained by his entire team. Name of the company, its logo, its best-selling “waffle trainers” were all invaluable contributions from his team members. His management style was casual and he gives full freedom to his employees in their departments.
He is a man of few words and throughout the book he gives many advices in short, concise statements often borrowing from Zen masters or famous authors or philosophers. Some of those lines are given in this synopsis.
Shoe Dog is an honest, real tale about an average person with an idea to sell shoes who is extremely passionate and relentless. Phil doesn’t set out to list down the factors that contributed to the success of Nike. He doesn’t give any tips or tricks to success. The book, it seems is written plainly and as things happened one by one, and things Phil learned each day in trying to build Nike. For those who pick it up as a self-help book or as a guide to do business, the book I doubt will meet up to your expectations.
Lines that stay with you –
I tell them to hit pause think long and hard about how they want to spend their time and with whom they want to spend it for the next forty years.
Not to settle for a job, or a profession or even a career, seek a calling.
If you are following your calling, the fatigue will be easier to bear. The disappointments will be fewer, the highs will be like nothing you have ever felt.
I would like to warn the best of them(entrepreneurs)… that they will always have a bull’s eye on their backs. The better they get, the bigger the bull’s eye.
Sometimes you have to give up. Sometimes knowing when to give up, when to try something else is genius.
Giving up does not mean stopping. Don’t ever stop.
Luck plays a big role…hard work is critical, good team is essential, brains and determination are invaluable but luck may decide the outcome.
The harder you work, the better your tao/luck.
Have faith in yourself but also have faith in faith…Faith as you define it, Faith as faith defines itself in your heart.
Whether you have it or not (money), whether you want it or not, whether you like it or not, it will try to define your days. Our task as human being is, not to let it.
To study the self is to forget the self. - Zen
When you’re seeing only problems, you’re not seeing clearly.
You are remembered for the rules you break.
The cowards never started and the weak died along the way, that leaves us…
If we are going to succeed or fail, we should do so on our own terms…
I felt spent but proud, drained but exhilarated…
Life is growth, you grow or you die
Single greatest way to know how you feel about someone, say goodbye
I had never been a multi-tasker… I wanted to be present always, I wanted to focus constantly on the one task that really mattered.
If I failed, I would fail quickly so I would have enough time and years to implement all the hard-earned lessons. My inner mantra was - Fail fast.
The art of competing is the art of forgetting. You must forget your limits, your doubts, your pain, your past, you must forget that internal voice screaming, begging not one more step and when you can’t forget, you must negotiate with it.
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones - Confucious
Reality is not linear says Zen. There is no future no past, all is now.
Whatever comes, just keep going, don’t stop.
It takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to go somewhere else you must run at least twice as fast as that - Lewis Carol, ‘Through the looking glass’.
Storytel mention - Heard the book on Storytel in the voice of Norbert Leo Butz. His voice makes the story come alive and makes us feel the emotions as the pages unfurl and life moves on with adventure and struggles for Phil Knight. Enjoyed!
