Our Shoe Dog book banter

I hate when book reviewers reveal too much of the plot during their reviews. That happens too much on Amazon when readers post their reviews. As we present our Shoe Dog book banter, I promise not to reveal too much.

Instead, I will present my thoughts about the author, Phil Knight, along with his writing style and the most memorable moments in this hard-to-put-down book.

First, this book about the shoe business is one of the best books I have ever read! Can you imagine—a book about the shoe business that was engaging and compelling? Well, for me it was, and I suspect you might have the same reaction.

Phil Knight, who founded and ran Nike for decades, could easily have been a best-selling author. He wrote Shoe Dog with such an engaging style that I was swept into his life and felt his emotions.

When Knight wrote about being a young man with a Master’s degree, and about serving in the U.S. Army, but still feeling “like the same shy, pale, rail-thin kid I’d always been…”, I was hooked. In this age of mindless arrogance from today’s reality stars and political leaders, I was immediately impressed with this man’s sincere humility.

As the story of the early years of Nike unfolded, Knight wasn’t afraid to let us know about all his failures. He bravely told us about his family life, and how there were some aspects that he wished he could do over again, but do them better.

As I read, I felt his regrets and sorrows in my heart, and was right there with him as he grieved. Despite the obvious pain he still feels today, Knight was open and honest with us, even if the truth hurt a little.

Of course, we all know that today’s Nike sells athletic and running shoes, but they also sell apparel. I have a 10-year-old Nike shirt that still fits great, and feels so comfortable, too.

So, here are a few compelling aspects of Shoe Dog that really stood out for me. Hopefully, my revelations about Shoe Dog do not reveal too much, so you can enjoy the book just as much as I did.

Recently, Nike (NKE) had a market capitalization of $120 billion. Also in that year, Nike spent about $3.3 billion for advertising and promotion expenses.

However, back in the 1960’s when Nike was only Phil Knight’s wistful “Crazy Idea”, his small business struggled to stay afloat while he perfected the running shoe.

Phil Knight was, and still is, a shoe dog, or someone who is devoted to “making, selling, buying, or designing of shoes” (pg 186). But Knight’s memoir is so much more than a stale chronology of Nike’s development from a struggling, live-on-the-float small business to a shoe company with tens-of-billions of dollars of revenues each year.

Shoe Dog is a story about underdogs with big dreams, misfits who didn’t fit in, an introvert who had to sell, and the people who helped them and also betrayed them along the way. It’s a story about the American dream, about taking chances, and about coming-from-behind to win.

From the first page, I was drawn in by Phil Knight’s openness and vulnerability. He exposed all the weaknesses, whether real or imagined, that he feared would keep him from fulfilling his “crazy idea.”

He told us about his own overwhelming shyness and introversion. Yet, he didn’t allow his shortcomings to keep him from reaching his lofty goals. I’m an introvert, too, so I could empathize with Knight—I also admired his bravery as he faced his deepest fears, despite being overwhelmingly shy.

Along the way, Knight teamed up with other shoe dogs. They were misfits, too, and they didn’t seem to fit in too well anywhere else. But, their obsession about running shoes united them in their common goal of building the best shoe company ever.

Knight’s Shoe Dog story reminded me of all the great come-from-behind sagas, including the too-small Seabiscuit race horse, and the unathletic Rudy from Notre Dame football. I love those types of stories, because I think we can all identify with them as we face our own challenges and setbacks in life.

“Each of us had been misunderstood, misjudged, dismissed. Shunned by bosses, spurned by luck, rejected by society, short-changed by fate when looks and other natural graces were handed out. We’d each been forged by early failure. We’d each given ourselves to some quest, some attempt at validation or meaning, and fallen short.”

—Phil Knight describing what united the misfits and spurred them on to greatness

Today, our politicians tell us how “very very fantastic” they are, or how their new proposal will be “easy, it will be easy for me, and everyone will love us afterwards.” Their pretentious arrogance is in stark contrast to Phil Knight’s and his devoted team’s sense of devoted humility.

For example, in their early years, Knight recruited one teammate to run a new production factory on the East Coast. The teammate asked his boss, “What do I know about running a factory? I’d be in completely over my head.” Knight responded by laughing. Then, he said:

“Over your head? Over your head! We’re all in over our heads! Way over!”

—Phil Knight

From the beginning of this book, I was surprised how open and honest Knight was about his doubts about himself and his goals. Whenever I embark on a new, unproven project, I have had similar doubts. Maybe you’ve also doubted yourself when you started a new job or career.

During an especially difficult time when Knight’s company desperately needed money to pay for new production, they tried to raise funds by selling shares in their business. They decided to sell 30% of their young company.

There were no buyers. Only one employee and his mother bought shares—300 shares for $1 each.

Knight was humiliated and blamed himself for his poor response. Imagine how you’d feel if you built a growing business, but no one believed in you enough to buy a few shares. I know I’d feel terrible.

“More than once, over my first cup of coffee in the morning, or while trying to fall asleep at night, I’d tell myself: Maybe I’m a fool? Maybe this whole damn shoe thing is a fool’s errand?”

—Phil Knight

Of course, the early shareholders who held on to those shares became millionaires. But, that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Some critics of Shoe Dog accused Knight of ignoring the reality of sweat shops and child labor in undeveloped countries. I disagree—Knight did acknowledge the problem. He explained how they did what they could given the circumstances.

Sometimes they improved sweat shop environments, but other times they encountered government resistance to change. After all, one foreign bureaucrat explained to Knight, it’s not right to pay factory workers more than a local doctor makes. He was probably right.

At the end of one month, Knight’s business was short of funds. That happened almost every month, and they depended on the float to get them through. This time, not even the float could help them—this time they needed $1 million, and fast.

I’m not going to reveal any more about this outstanding part of Shoe Dog, but it was a cliff-hanger. How did they ever come up with that large amount of money in the 1960’s? Well, sometimes people can surprise you, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. It was good.

As I read this book, I wondered how the people Knight was writing about actually looked. I wondered about the early teammates, and tried to picture them as they performed miracles.

When I was young, I vaguely remember Nike running shoes. I’m certain I had a few pairs in the 1980’s, even though I was never a runner. But, including some photos or even line drawings of the early shoes would have been helpful.

I would also have enjoyed seeing Phil Knight’s family, including his parents, his wife and her parents, and their two sons. My guess is that the publisher had discussed including photos, but maybe some of the author’s memories were too painful. I’m not sure about that—I’m just speculating.

But, I think photos would have been helpful to the reader.

Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It engaged me from the first page. The author’s writing style pulled me in and made me feel I was right there with him as he experienced all the ups-and-downs, and all the defeats-and-joys of starting this incredible shoe business.

In fact, Shoe Dog was surprisingly good.

Thanks for reading our Shoe Dog book banter and book review. If you’ve read the book, please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

TAKEAWAYS:

Shoe Dog was a fantastic book! I was surprised that Phil Knight was such a great author. If you enjoy reading books about business, or books about underdogs overcoming insurmountable odds, you’ll love Shoe Dog!

Content and photos by Doug Martin and Our Book Banter