13A - Reading Reflection No. 1
13A – Reading Reflection No. 1
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
1) You read about an entrepreneur:
A) What surprised you the most?
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I couldn’t believe all that Mr. Knight had experienced throughout the years. This book made me laugh, cry and learn. I was very surprised how a waffle iron ended up being such a huge part of their innovation.
B) What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
I admire Mr. Knight’s determination and perseverance on never giving up. I admire his gonads, he did a few things that I was like OH MY GOD! 1) Having a spy working in the Japanese company and 2) Opening up a suitcase that was not his and taking the docs!
C) What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
This is a hard question because I sincerely loved the entire book. I guess if I had to answer this question it would be the fact that he did not answer his employee’s letters. He kind of left communication one sided. He talked about how he would receive letter after letter, but he just didn’t answer them. I find that rude; I hate being ignored. I was surprised Johnson hung in there.
D) Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
Yes, Mr. Knight faced tons of adversity and failures. He had many situations with Japan that caused issues with his supply. They would say a delivery was on its way, but didn’t arrive for months. This delay caused major issues he had to overcome. He always seemed to find ways to deal with adversity. Even if that meant having one of his employees / partners move across the country back and forth. Failure never seemed like an option for Mr. Knight. If one supplier gave him issues he would find another. For instance, he left Japan and went to Taiwan. He came so close a few times to failing, but as he says luck has a little to do with it. One thing he did fail at was marrying the first girl he ever brought home. But, he ended up a winner with the second girl he brought home.
2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
Above all, Mr. Knight was a problem solver and had a great deal of adaptability. He was faced continuously with issues and he was not afraid to jump on an airplane and fly clear to Japan to conquer them. He definitely had motivation. He wanted to show Adidas and Converse that he could compete.
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
I felt it was confusing that Mr. Knight was all of a sudden hit with a $25 million import suit. I’m sure my confusion stems from my lack of education pertaining to import fees. It was just strange to me that the fees were never brought up. He said that they ended up negotiating them down to $8 million. He said that it was his competitors, Adidas and Converse that played a huge role in informing the government of his “fees that were not paid.”
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
A) Did you or will you, ever name a particular shoe what you wanted to name the brand, i.e. “Dimension Six.”
I think naming a shoe “Dimension Six” would be a great memorial to Mr. Knight, since it was the name he wanted for the brand and no one liked it.
B) You didn’t mention the Nike “Back to the Future” lace up shoes in your book. I know that you had retired from CEO and sit on the boards. Throughout the book, you mentioned how exciting it was when you saw your Nikes on the screen during an athletic event. How was it when you saw such innovative Nikes in the movie?
I am curious if you personally spoke to Michael J. Fox like you did all the athletes. You said the athletes that wore your shoes became family. I wonder how much the movie bumped your sales for Nike, since it was such a famous movie.
5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I think Mr. Knight had a work hard, play hard mind set. He would sometimes work day, in day out, but other times he would be hungover from having a blast with the buttfaces. I think Mr. Knight valued hard work and he appreciated his partners / workers. They did more of the creative work, developing designs, running offices and well even naming the brand. I agree with how I interpret his opinion of hard work. I always work hard and play hard. We only live once.
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
1) You read about an entrepreneur:
A) What surprised you the most?
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I couldn’t believe all that Mr. Knight had experienced throughout the years. This book made me laugh, cry and learn. I was very surprised how a waffle iron ended up being such a huge part of their innovation.
B) What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
I admire Mr. Knight’s determination and perseverance on never giving up. I admire his gonads, he did a few things that I was like OH MY GOD! 1) Having a spy working in the Japanese company and 2) Opening up a suitcase that was not his and taking the docs!
C) What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
This is a hard question because I sincerely loved the entire book. I guess if I had to answer this question it would be the fact that he did not answer his employee’s letters. He kind of left communication one sided. He talked about how he would receive letter after letter, but he just didn’t answer them. I find that rude; I hate being ignored. I was surprised Johnson hung in there.
D) Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
Yes, Mr. Knight faced tons of adversity and failures. He had many situations with Japan that caused issues with his supply. They would say a delivery was on its way, but didn’t arrive for months. This delay caused major issues he had to overcome. He always seemed to find ways to deal with adversity. Even if that meant having one of his employees / partners move across the country back and forth. Failure never seemed like an option for Mr. Knight. If one supplier gave him issues he would find another. For instance, he left Japan and went to Taiwan. He came so close a few times to failing, but as he says luck has a little to do with it. One thing he did fail at was marrying the first girl he ever brought home. But, he ended up a winner with the second girl he brought home.
2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
Above all, Mr. Knight was a problem solver and had a great deal of adaptability. He was faced continuously with issues and he was not afraid to jump on an airplane and fly clear to Japan to conquer them. He definitely had motivation. He wanted to show Adidas and Converse that he could compete.
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
I felt it was confusing that Mr. Knight was all of a sudden hit with a $25 million import suit. I’m sure my confusion stems from my lack of education pertaining to import fees. It was just strange to me that the fees were never brought up. He said that they ended up negotiating them down to $8 million. He said that it was his competitors, Adidas and Converse that played a huge role in informing the government of his “fees that were not paid.”
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
A) Did you or will you, ever name a particular shoe what you wanted to name the brand, i.e. “Dimension Six.”
I think naming a shoe “Dimension Six” would be a great memorial to Mr. Knight, since it was the name he wanted for the brand and no one liked it.
B) You didn’t mention the Nike “Back to the Future” lace up shoes in your book. I know that you had retired from CEO and sit on the boards. Throughout the book, you mentioned how exciting it was when you saw your Nikes on the screen during an athletic event. How was it when you saw such innovative Nikes in the movie?
I am curious if you personally spoke to Michael J. Fox like you did all the athletes. You said the athletes that wore your shoes became family. I wonder how much the movie bumped your sales for Nike, since it was such a famous movie.
5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I think Mr. Knight had a work hard, play hard mind set. He would sometimes work day, in day out, but other times he would be hungover from having a blast with the buttfaces. I think Mr. Knight valued hard work and he appreciated his partners / workers. They did more of the creative work, developing designs, running offices and well even naming the brand. I agree with how I interpret his opinion of hard work. I always work hard and play hard. We only live once.
Hi Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post and it makes me want to read the book. I liked the questions that you picked to ask and how creative they were. I had no idea that the creator of Nike had such an extraordinary story. I am fascinated by all the points that you brought up and it makes him seem like a pretty crazy guy. Great post and I have no critiques.
Hey Liz,
ReplyDeleteI loved your post and definitely need to read more into this book. I've worn Nike products my whole life, and I have never realized that the founder had his own success story written. I loved your comment about "work hard, play hard" as this was exactly what I thought of when reading the book about Steve Jobs. Of course, he said he was taking LSD for the creative and artistic aspects of the drug, but I doubt he would deny that he didn't very much enjoy it. Also, your comment about not reading his employee letters was also frustrating to me as well, especially considering that he worked in designing shoes and his employees may have actually had some good ideas!