Reading Reflection 1- Assignment 13A

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

·       What surprised you the most?

 I think what surprised me the most from reading about Phil Knight was his dedication. Through the creation of his company there were many setbacks and I am sure at times he thought he was going to fail miserably, but he did not. He had to go through getting loans with the bank and the constant pressure put on from needing to pay back the money, receiving the shoes late, the relationship with their shoe manufacturing company, etc. Phil was extremely resilient and had an overall great work ethic, especially shown when he  working an accounting job and running his business at the same time to stay afloat when the company was losing money. He was a very hard worker and had a great attitude about his business and what he wanted his business could be.

·       What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

What I most admired about Phil Knight would have to be his no quit attitude. I actually marked in the book a specific quote Phil said to himself, it was “let everyone else call your idea crazy . . . just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is.” This quote stuck with me throughout the reading. Anything that came Phil’s way, good or bad, he was able to preserver and get through it. I think that is exactly the way to go about creating something, no matter how many times you fail or get said no to, you just have to keep going and keep trying.

·       What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I would have to say the thing about Phil Knight I least admire was the way he treated one of his very first employees, Jeff Johnson in the beginning of the book. While Jeff was someone who wanted constant reassurance and communication with his boss, Phil had more of a hands-off approach. I do not think Jeff was really fazed by the lack of communication, but myself, I would not like if a boss acted that way with me. He was kind of just dismissive and really completely ignoring Jeff with no visits, calls, or responses to any of the letters he wrote. It did seem that Jeff was a little over board on the letters, but open communication would have made a big difference I think. Phil could have explained his more hands off approach and asked for less letters and Phil could have understood why Phil wanted/needed those words of encouragement he was always asking for throughout the letters.

·       Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure?

If so, what did they do about it? While his idea was obviously a huge success, it had a rough start since when he was presenting his “crazy” idea to his professor, classmates, and friends they did not seem as enthused with the idea as he was. So in the sense of having support, you could say he had to face adversity. He also faced adversity with the banks not wanting to give him loans for buying shoes, he did what he could with this and went and talked to everyone he could to ensure he was always getting the loans needed to keep his company in business. He also faced adversity with the company whose shoe he sold. There were delivery problems, competitor problems, location problems, and in the end this relationship was terminated. I think it was for the best, it did not seem to be a good company to work with and at the end of their business relationship with Phil they tried to take over his company. In the end, he was able to get away from that toxic relationship and work with a new company.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

One competency that Phil Knight exhibited would have to deal with the design of the different shoes. They were able to create shoes that actually helped or solved a problem while running. He also listened to others, other people in his company were able to create new shoes throughout their time with the company. He also allowed people outside of the company to talk to him about their different ideas for shoe designs and ideas they had and he even used a couple, one notably that I am sure he was happy he listened to, the Nike air-soled shoes. Another competency he had would have to be his work ethic and his never give up attitude. This allowed him to push through all the struggles that came his way and get out of the other side with an amazing company.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

 One part of the reading that I found confusing was why he stayed in the relationship with his shoe manufacturer, Onitsuka Co. They did not have the best relationship, he had to fly to Japan multiple times to mend relationships, got the shipments of shoes late basically every time, and going behind Knights back and looking to work with other companies while having a contract. When they finally ended the relationship they were able to get through it and find another company and I think they could have done it earlier.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

I would love to ask Phil how he came to the conclusion to listen to his friends dream and name the company Nike instead of Dimension Six, not that I particularly liked the name, but he seemed to really want that as the name. So it was interesting to read on his final decision, quite literally at the very last second he chose to go with the name Nike. Another question I would like to ask would be about his wife and her work with the company. He talked about her a little throughout the book and I would love to hear more about what she did for the company.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I would say that Phil Knights opinion of hard work would have to be to never stop and push through. Never stop trying your hardest, working through all the struggles and problems, and really preserve. You can get through the tough times with hard work and dedication and I think Phil really believes that. I do share this opinion of hard work. Trying your hardest every time you do something is what I consider hard work and I would say the Phil Knight demonstrated this while creating Nike and this is how he would regard hard work.