27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

1. The final book I read was Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. The thing that surprised me most was how much he was in debt while trying to get his companies off the ground. I admired that he admitted he was not smart, strategic, or coy, as most people would assume entrepreneurs are. He traveled his own path rather than the one society often expects from business starters. I did not notice anything in particular that I actively did not admire. We're not perfectly alike or anything, I just did not find anything wrong with what he wrote. Likely, he left out any truly bad stuff, since it's an autobiography.
2. His primary competency was his drive and tenacity. He kept persevering despite huge amounts of debt and constant setbacks. He kept trying his ideas in different ways until they finally worked, and the rest is history. 
3. Nothing in this book confused me.
4. I would ask him:
1. What inspired you to do things the way you did? I'm sure many have followed, or tried to follow, in Phil Knight's footsteps, so whose was he trying to follow in, if anyone?
2. Is there anything you would change about the business, knowing what you know now?
5. Knight was probably the hardest worker of the three books I read. The others, Ray Kroc and Scott Adams, did put in the time and money to get where they wanted to get, but Phil Knight had to actively suffer to persevere.