Assignment 13A - Reading Reflection No.1
1. You read about the entrepreneur:
- What surprised you the most? I'm extremely surprised by the fact that Phil Knight is a very spiritual and adventurous man. Although he may not be religious, as in following a particular's religious tradition, he red various spiritual text like Zen and Budhha that enables him to think outside the box.
- What about the entrepreneur did you admire? I really admire his bravery in not being afraid to fail. Phil Knight comes from a very wealthy family, everything is secure for him, however, he is not afraid to do "dirty work", something that is considered not respectable in the society, and fails.
- What about the entrepreneur that you least admire? I don't really admire his leadership and communication skill. When he was still selling Tigers shoes, he was really fortunate to find someone that is very passionate like Johnson. Johnson almost left him due to his bad leadership and communication skill, which could cause his empire to not even exist, but at the end, Johnson stayed.
- Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? During his early career, Phil Knight encounter a lot of rejection, from not making into the baseball team and losing his sale ownership to the East Cowboy, however, what I notice is that he is always communicating those problems with his peers, including his father, to gain more views on how to solve the problem. Not a lot of people have the courage to let others know the problems they have because of the ego of oneself, but Phil Knight was able to do this selflessly.
2. What competencies did you notice the entrepreneur exhibit?
- Phil Knight managed to think outside the box, possibly cause by his philosophical personality and the things that he read. He is very in-depth and not afraid to break social norms. Moreover, he is a very hard working person, the fact he comes from a really wealthy family doesn't stop him from working hard. Although his father got him many interviews with amazing companies because of his position, Phil Knight never let his belief, in importing track shoes from Japan, fades. He is very focus, dedicated, and uses the resources his father provided him.
3. Identify one part of the reading that is confusing to you.
- It wasn't really explained how Phil Knight manages to make multiple deals with Johnson, his first employee who demanded a share of the company because he was the driving force, Bowerman, a legendary track coach that leads the Olympic team at one point, and Onitsuka, the Japanese company that wanted to supply to bigger sporting chain in America but decided to go with Phil. It seems like there is an important thing that the book did not cover about how Phil Knight manages to succeed in all of the negotiations that I feel could go another way.
4. If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
- I would ask Phil Knight about the magic ingredient in making crucial negotiation, and his list of 5 favorite books. I will be asking these questions because the book "Shoe Dog" doesn't really explain how he manages to close many crucial deals, its seem to just happen which needs more explanation. Moreover, with the quotes the book gathered, I can feel that Phil Knight enjoys reading many books that enabled him to break free from society and I would like to think outside the box just like him.
5. For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of har work? Do you share that opinion?
- From his early career story, Phil Knight made it clear that there has to be a passion in something that we are doing. You don't necessarily have to have a goal because goal will change every minute, but you have to do something that excites you, something that you believe exist despite other people not noticing, and you have to protect that belief. And, at the end of the day, if you found those gems, you will voluntarily work hard without even forcing yourself to work hard.
- What surprised you the most? I'm extremely surprised by the fact that Phil Knight is a very spiritual and adventurous man. Although he may not be religious, as in following a particular's religious tradition, he red various spiritual text like Zen and Budhha that enables him to think outside the box.
- What about the entrepreneur did you admire? I really admire his bravery in not being afraid to fail. Phil Knight comes from a very wealthy family, everything is secure for him, however, he is not afraid to do "dirty work", something that is considered not respectable in the society, and fails.
- What about the entrepreneur that you least admire? I don't really admire his leadership and communication skill. When he was still selling Tigers shoes, he was really fortunate to find someone that is very passionate like Johnson. Johnson almost left him due to his bad leadership and communication skill, which could cause his empire to not even exist, but at the end, Johnson stayed.
- Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? During his early career, Phil Knight encounter a lot of rejection, from not making into the baseball team and losing his sale ownership to the East Cowboy, however, what I notice is that he is always communicating those problems with his peers, including his father, to gain more views on how to solve the problem. Not a lot of people have the courage to let others know the problems they have because of the ego of oneself, but Phil Knight was able to do this selflessly.
2. What competencies did you notice the entrepreneur exhibit?
- Phil Knight managed to think outside the box, possibly cause by his philosophical personality and the things that he read. He is very in-depth and not afraid to break social norms. Moreover, he is a very hard working person, the fact he comes from a really wealthy family doesn't stop him from working hard. Although his father got him many interviews with amazing companies because of his position, Phil Knight never let his belief, in importing track shoes from Japan, fades. He is very focus, dedicated, and uses the resources his father provided him.
3. Identify one part of the reading that is confusing to you.
- It wasn't really explained how Phil Knight manages to make multiple deals with Johnson, his first employee who demanded a share of the company because he was the driving force, Bowerman, a legendary track coach that leads the Olympic team at one point, and Onitsuka, the Japanese company that wanted to supply to bigger sporting chain in America but decided to go with Phil. It seems like there is an important thing that the book did not cover about how Phil Knight manages to succeed in all of the negotiations that I feel could go another way.
4. If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
- I would ask Phil Knight about the magic ingredient in making crucial negotiation, and his list of 5 favorite books. I will be asking these questions because the book "Shoe Dog" doesn't really explain how he manages to close many crucial deals, its seem to just happen which needs more explanation. Moreover, with the quotes the book gathered, I can feel that Phil Knight enjoys reading many books that enabled him to break free from society and I would like to think outside the box just like him.
5. For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of har work? Do you share that opinion?
- From his early career story, Phil Knight made it clear that there has to be a passion in something that we are doing. You don't necessarily have to have a goal because goal will change every minute, but you have to do something that excites you, something that you believe exist despite other people not noticing, and you have to protect that belief. And, at the end of the day, if you found those gems, you will voluntarily work hard without even forcing yourself to work hard.
I really enjoyed reading this summary and analysis of the biography. When doing this assignment myself, I found it extremely difficult to come up with things that the business tycoon failed at. I believe that this was partially because I really admired the business tycoon so I may have been biased in conducting my response. I think your response, however, seemed objective, this allowing you to eliminate any bias.
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