The Xperiential MBA group got a private tour of the Nike Headquarters campus in Portland, OR.
The campus is magnificent. It has 32 buildings that are dedicated to all facets of the Nike empire.
Different buildings house different elements for business including R&D & design, marketing, executive, legal, HR, etc.
Here’s what I noticed and learned as I spent a morning with our group at the Nike campus.
Folklore carries so much weight
Most of the 32 buildings are named for and dedicated to athletes on Nike’s roster. Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Mia Hamm, Bo Jackson and Tiger Woods among other top name brand athletes.
At the Tiger Woods building dedication, the man himself was onsite. Beside the building, Nike built a tee box that sits above the length of 2 soccer fields. Tiger hit a golf ball from that tee box to a golf green 315 away, over the length of 2 soccer pitches and landed it feet from the flag.
Nike displays banners and memorabilia of their athletes and apparel all over their campus as a visual reminder of the stories of their victories.
I was starstruck by a pair of shoes. They displayed the actual gold track shoes that Michael Johnson wore in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Those shoes were a legit storyline of those Olympic games, which I was enamored by back then and still found that spark just staring at them nearly 30 years later.
Everything is done on purpose
Nike is an inspiring place that is designed to boost & aid creativity. You can see how each building is purposefully created and part of the larger collective campus.
In the product design building – dubbed the LeBron James Innovation Building – the designers, research & development teams do their work to innovate Nike’s products using cutting edge materials. Nike commissioned a piece of art depicting early Nike innovators working with the track team of the University of Oregon in the 1970’s. The artwork was imprinted on a series of shoestrings.
The executive building is designed in a way to emulate the “lean” that runners use when they cross the finish line at the end of a race. Without knowing the reason for the design, I imagine that it signifies leaning all in to win. Winning is a concept quite loudly promoted on campus. At Nike, winning is important.
Put your money where your mouth is
Nike is all about athletes. They are in business to support the greatness of athletes worldwide. It’s not just about the professional athletes and the stars that we all know and love to watch. It extends to athletes like you and me.
Nike has multiple state of the art gyms, full meticulously manicured football field and 2 soccer pitches, tennis courts, basketball courts, Olympic swimming pool, etc. These incredible facilities are used by professional and amateur athletes for product testing. It’s also used free of charge by Nike employees.
If you didn’t know you were on Nike’s campus, take all names off everything, you would know that whoever inhabits these buildings is obsessed with sports.
As a fan of Nike since growing up as a kid watching the Jordan commercials and wearing Nikes for sports and everywhere else, it’s awe inspiring to be in the place where the magic of the company takes place.
In return, it gave me the inspiration to live out passions and go all in on what I’m doing. I wish you all similar inspiration and awe.