The World's Best Book Summaries
In Nike founder Phil Knight’s memoir Shoe Dog, Knight discusses a man who would be Nike’s mortal enemy – Shoji Kitami, an executive at Japanese company Onitsuka. Onitsuka is supposed to be Knight’s partner, but Kitami selfishly has other plans. He undermines Phil Knight and harasses him over years, eventually leading Knight to found Nike to get out of Kitami’s reach. These are highlights about Onitsuka’s Kitami from Shoe Dog.
Bob Woodell was one of Phil Knight’s early hires at Nike, just a few years after starting the company. A former runner, he was paralyzed from the waist down after an accident. Phil likes that Bob therefore has a chip on his shoulder and is eager to prove himself. Learn more about Bob Woodell and his early history at Nike.
Nike founder Phil Knight started his shoe career selling imported Japanese shoes from the company Onitsuka, not by manufacturing his own. His original company was called Blue Ribbon Sports. He sold his first shoes at track meets out of the trunk of his car, and their design and quality become a hit. Over time, frictions with Onitsuka over distribution rights, slow shipments, and creating new shoe designs forced him to found Nike. If they’d kept their partnership amiable, Phil might have kept working with Onitsuka, and Nike might never have happened. This is the story of Blue Ribbon Sports before
Jordan Peterson has gotten a lot of criticism for his views on gender equality. He asserts that males and females have differences, and that we’d be foolish not to recognize them. Is Jordan Peterson a biased bigot? Or does he have some wisdom in his words? Let’s look into Jordan Peterson’s gender equality views.
Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, started what would later become Nike in the 1960s when he was in his mid-20s. What was young Phil Knight like? How did he come upon the idea of Nike, and how did he build it into the world’s most recognizable athletic brand? Let’s start at the beginning of Phil Knight’s young life.
In 12 Rules for Life, Jordan Peterson discusses why our lives feel so meaningless today. Why do we feel so aimless, like our efforts don’t matter, that our lives might ultimately not matter either? It all has to do with the fall of religion and the rise of secularism. Read more about Jordan Peterson’s meaning philosophy, and how to find it in your own life.
Nike is a juggernaut company today, but early in its history, it ran into constant financial problems. It was so aggressive in expanding that it always had issues paying back its bank. At one point, its bank said enough was enough. It would no longer extend Nike credit to grow. Phil Knight is devastated. Until he gets a new partner: Nissho Iwai. From his memoir Shoe Dog, here are the key details about Nike and Nissho.
In 12 Rules for Life, Rule #8 is “Tell The Truth – Or At Least Don’t Lie.” What does this mean? Why is lying so bad to yourself? Why is telling the truth so good? This rule discusses not only lying to others, but also lying to yourself and obscuring your personal truth. Instead, you need to develop your personal truth, then act consistently with it. This chapter is fairly abstract, but try to see if its principles resonate with a specific problem you have in life.