Shoe Dog

While many people associate success in business with ruthlessness and deceit, Knight repeatedly makes the case that honesty and truth-telling were crucial to Nike’s success. At the same time, the action of Shoe Dog demonstrates that Knight is willing to wield deception strategically to further the company’s success.

The first time Knight realizes the connection between honesty and good business is as a young man selling Dreyfus funds in Hawaii. While he has little success selling encyclopedias, he finds that simply sticking to what he knows helps him make connections with potential Dreyfus funds clients. At Nike’s first appearance at the National Sporting Goods Association Show in Chicago in 1972, Johnson speaks with other tradesmen to find out why they showed faith in Nike’s shoes that year, even though they were still clearly inferior products. The men tell Johnson that they trust Blue Ribbon because while everyone else “bullshits,” Blue Ribbon always tells the truth about its products. These episodes highlight the effectiveness of forthrightness as a marketing strategy.

Knight also tells the truth during a speech he gives to his employees at a crucial moment in Nike’s history. After Onitsuka cuts off their supply to Blue Ribbon, Knight is direct and honest with his employees, which inspires them to see this potentially risky situation as a moment of opportunity.