Nike, Facebook & Pakistan - Interesting Books reviewed

Shoe Dog ~ A Memoir by the creator of Nike by Phil Knight is really a well written autobiography. There is no co-author or a ghost writer involved, so the emotions you go through as a reader are real and raw. Phil actually took writing classes to write this book. And that effort shows! It is one the best autobiographies / biographies I have read. Shoe Dog is not just Phil's or Nike's story. It is that too. But it goes beyond. Both inside and outside. The book delves deep inside into an entrepreneur's mind. It looks outwards towards the history of the era when Phil was building Nike. So the book doesn't just feel like an autobiography. It reads like a parable, sounds like a lore and can be understood as a metaphor for life. The book is also paced like a thriller.

As an author, Phil displays his sense of humor throughout. Especially hilarious are his accounts of some of his early colleagues and his travels to Japan and China. But there are undercurrents of his personal tragedies. Also Phil chose not to narrate much that happened after 1980. I was surprised by this choice but I understood the reasons behind it. So you won't get the story behind "Just Do It" or several such campaigns post 1980.

Phil fleshes out each character in the story of his life with love and empathy. He owns his mistakes and is painfully aware of his shortcomings. But he loves his journey.  Phil brings his struggles as a sportsperson and as an entrepreneur to the paper without inhibitions. He also talks about his relationships with his father and his sons without holding anything back.

Some of the questions which I wanted the book to answer also get answered with flourish. You get to know the story behind the name "Nike". You get the story behind its logo. You get reasons for Nike's success. But the book goes beyond the obvious. It gives insights into history of the time. It showcases how people come together and stick together despite differences. It talks about irreversible sacrifices. It defines successes and failures in a humane way.

As a marketer, one is always struggling to define the story of one's brand, its spirit and purpose. This memoir does it so well for Nike. There are several books that have inspired me in the past - with a new idea or with a better perspective on things. But this  book inspired me in a different way. It made me feel for Nike. I felt like working for Nike, especially during its early years. The years when I wasn't even born. And that's a great achievement for a book. 

the Facebook effect by David Kirkpatrick is a book which I have read few years late. The book was published in 2010 and it chronicles the early years of Facebook. By now, we all know the basic beats of Facebook story and its early milestones, through the folklore and the movie 'The Social Network'. Also in 9 years since then, Facebook has become a very different animal, with lesser personal connections active on it. It has since then made a journey from being cool to somewhat evil. I would personally love to read a sequel to this book to know what changed and also understand Mark Zuckerberg's opinion on Cambridge Analytica data breach.

Coming back to this book, I was surprised to notice few grammar as well as spelling errors. Otherwise, the book is pretty fast paced. The book provides a balanced view on Facebook's highs and lows. Unlike Videocracy by Kevin Allocca, a book about YouTube, which I reviewed earlier this year, this book looks into issues like antitrust, privacy, data ownership and ethics in a far more incisive way.

Also, I liked the portions, where we got to know about the logic behind every change and feature on Facebook. These portions make the book an interesting read from change management and product development point of view.

But if there is a more recent book on Facebook, which is equally well written, I suggest you can give this one a miss. 

Tinderbox ~ The Past and Future of Pakistan by M.J. Akbar, presents a very interesting slice of world history of Indian sub-continent, especially chronicling the circumstances around formation of Pakistan. It delves deep into epic conflict between Hindu and Muslim cultures and its impact on the entire region. 

It is a tough book to read, because it spans across centuries, and too much is happening. There are way too many characters and sub-plots. In fact each chapter in this book can become a source for a new book. So don't feel too overwhelmed while reading it, if you are able to connect key threads of this narrative.  By the time I finished the book, I forgot many specifics - names, dates etc. But overarching themes and patterns emerged. 

1. If religious identity overpowers regional or national identity, there will always be strife. Pakistan will never be at peace given the circumstances of its birth. Also my limited understanding, that democracy can bring change,  was questioned throughout the book. 

2. Another interesting aspect on which author spends a lot of time is wherein he explains how Pakistan governments have been distorting history that is taught in their schools. He explains, how school children are conditioned right from the childhood to consider India as its enemy. He goes further to explain how plunderers from pre-independent India are treated as heroes because of their religious identity. But as I read chapters on Indian freedom struggle in the book, especially about Gandhi's failures, I realized how our history books were also whitewashed. I learned how Mahatma was more of a politically useful religious moniker than a testimony to Gandhi's greatness. So while Pakistan's history is a hogwash, ours is also pretty much whitewashed in school books. 

3. How Pakistan played world's superpowers using its geo-political advantage is also a recurring theme in the book. 

And the questions which were left in my mind by the time I finished reading this book were - Has Pakistan played all its cards? Are we on a path to nuclear catastrophe?

I needed few lighter books after this.