48 pages • 1 hour read
Phil KnightShoe Dog
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Zen and Japanese Culture
In addition to developing a taste for Japanese business, a young Knight also developed an interest in Japanese culture, especially the philosophy of Zen. Throughout Shoe Dog, Knight returns to the motif of Zen to demonstrate his maturity as well as that of his growing business. When recounting his very first trip to Japan, for example, Knight reflects on the lines from Zen and the Art of Archery: “Perfection in the art of swordsmanship is reached […] when your heart is troubled by no more thought of I and You, of the opponent and his sword, of one’s own sword and how to wield it” (23). In other words, forgetting the self is critical to success. At this point, Zen represents a way for Knight to achieve victory as an athlete or a businessman. This philosophy is evident in Knight’s leadership style, particularly his penchant for Telling the Truth as a Successful Business Strategy, even when doing so is embarrassing.
However, what starts as a simple interest in one aspect of Japanese culture develops into a life-long relationship with the country of Japan and a deeper and more nuanced understanding of its business practices. Knight is ashamed, for example, when an inexperienced business partner comes across too aggressively in his interactions with Japanese factory owners, and Knight later develops complicated and dynamic relationships with Onitsuka, Kitami, Iwano, and Fujimoto. In the end, Zen motivates Knight to connect more deeply and broadly with Japanese culture and to design shoes and apparel with grace and simplicity.
Shoe Dogs
Shoe Dog gets its title from a phrase Knight uses to refer to “people who devoted themselves wholly to the making, selling, buying, or designing of shoes” (186). Knight considers himself such a person and refers to many other people throughout the book in the same way. He says of the term, “Lifers used the phrase cheerfully to describe other lifers, men and women who had toiled so long and hard in the shoe trade, they thought and talked about nothing else” (186). One such shoe dog is a man named Jonas Senter, who is said to be responsible for the flood of knockoff Adidas products available in the Asian market. Another is Bill Giampietro, who was hired to run Nike’s Exeter factory in 1974. One of the youngest shoe dogs Knight meets is a man in Taipei named Jerry Hsieh, whose room is completely filled with shoes: “Everywhere we looked were shoes, and more shoes, and piles of shoe pieces—soles and laces and tongues” (289). In the end, the shoe dog motif is used to situate Knight as belonging to a kind of brotherhood—those who, like Giampietro, Senter, and Hsieh, obsess over and dream about little else but the conception, design, and production of shoes.
“Never Stop”
In the Prologue, Knight tells himself to “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” (5). Throughout Shoe Dog, and the ups and downs of Knight’s life, he continually gives himself this same advice: Never stop, and never give up. As he travels the world, for example, his traveling partner decides to stay in Hawaii; meanwhile, Knight grows homesick and then falls extremely ill in India. However, every time he considers going home, Knight challenges himself to keep going. The same ethos informs Knight’s business dealings. When Blue Ribbon faces a financial crisis, Knight swallows his pride by asking a former rival, Grelle, for assistance. After Knight secures funds from him, he feels “immensely proud” and reminds himself, “Keep going…Don’t stop” (163). With every obstacle that Nike faces in the years that follow, Knight perseveres in just the same way.
Knight infuses this character trait into Nike’s corporate culture, establishing The Desire for Victory as Nike’s Binding Spirit. The burgeoning company faces several immense obstacles, including lawsuits with Onitsuka and US Customs, as well as poor product quality when trying to get its own shoes to market. Despite all that, the company persists. This persevering spirit, passed from Knight on to his company and its culture, is reflected in the company’s very name: Nike was an ancient Greek goddess who personified victory—which is the end goal of any great endeavor.
