The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

What’s the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and General Electric have in common with the abolitionist and women’s rights movements? What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths? How could winning a Supreme Court case be the biggest mistake MGM could have made?

After five years of ground-breaking research, Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom share some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. The Starfish and the Spider argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional “spiders,” which have a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary “starfish,” which rely on the power of peer relationships.

The Starfish and the Spider explores what happens when starfish take on spiders (such as the music industry vs. Napster, Kazaa, and the P2P services that followed). It reveals how established companies and institutions, from IBM to Intuit to the US government, are also learning how to incorporate starfish principles to achieve success. The book explores:
* How the Apaches fended off the powerful Spanish army for 200 years
* The power of a simple circle
* The importance of catalysts who have an uncanny ability to bring people together
* How the Internet has become a breeding ground for leaderless organizations
* How Alcoholics Anonymous has reached untold millions with only a shared ideology and without a leader

The Starfish and the Spider is the rare book that will change how you understand the world around you. BACKCOVER: Advance praise for The Starfish and the Spider
“The Starfish and the Spider is a compelling and important book.”
—Pierre Omidyar, CEO, Omidyar Network and Founder and Chairman, eBay Inc.

“The Starfish and the Spider, like Blink, The Tipping Point, and The Wisdom of Crowds before it, showed me a provocative new way to look at the world and at business. It's also fun to read!”
—Robin Wolaner, founder, Parenting Magazine and author, Naked in the Boardroom

“A fantastic read. Constantly weaving stories and connections. You'll never see the world the same way again.”
—Nicholas J. Nicholas Jr., former Co-CEO, Time Warner

“A must-read. Starfish are changing the face of business and society. This page-turner is provocative and compelling.”

—David Martin, CEO, Young Presidents' Organization
“The Starfish and the Spider provides a powerful prism for understanding the patterns and potential of self-organizing systems.”
—Steve Jurvetson, Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
“The Starfish and the Spider lifts the lid on a massive revolution in the making, a revolution certain to reshape every organization on the planet from bridge clubs to global governments. Brafman and Beckstrom elegantly describe what is afoot and offer a wealth of insights that will be invaluable to anyone starting something new—or rescuing something old—amidst this vast shift.”
—Paul Saffo, Director, Institute for the Future

“The Starfish and the Spider is great reading. [It has] not only stimulated my thinking, but as a result of the reading, I proposed ten action points for my own organization."
—Professor Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Very interesting, 2008-07-02
Nutshell review - This is a very interesting and insightful book about centralized vs. decentralized organizations, from companies to terrorist cells. Well written with interesting and useful insights.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

The Starfish and the Spider relevance to Relationship Economics, 2008-06-23
As succinctly illustrated in Rod Beckstrom's book The Starfish and the Spider, the massively complex and dynamic ecosystems of today's highly matrixed corporations can more effectively adapt to the market dynamics by way of decentralized competency teams. Substantial organizational inertia creates difficult personality dynamics, and also has the potential to bring out highly destructive corporate politics in any effort to drive meaningful change. Our research, coupled with the digitization of social networks, highlights a strategic asset in any manager, leader, or executive's investment of time and energy in not only creating decentralized teams, but also in nurturing productive relationships in their dynamic environments.

In contrast to the Industrial Age - in which much of the current command and control organizational structure was focused on capital as the most valuable resource - the current multigenerational workforce leverages a very different asset for creating shareholder value. The highly integrated business unit, operating company, or division, which mobilizes and leverages its broad-based intellectual capital, tends to waste fewer cycles in redundant market penetration, talent acquisition, and strategic supplier relationships. Instead, their intracompany, as well as external relationship development efforts, can translate into not only more rewarding, productive work for its current and future talent, but also a greater Return on Capital at a relatively low risk.



0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

An interesting overview of a decentralized business model, 2008-06-22
Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom are entrepreneurs. In "The Starfish and the Spider" they express their fascination of decentralized organizations, and their impact on the business world. Based on numerous examples, ranging from Alcoholics Anonymous to Skype and Wikipedia, they present to us a model of decentralized organization and the new business rules it implies.

A decentralized organization, compared to Starfish, can be defined by several characteristics, such as:

1. No specific person in charge and no headquarters, which imply that it's not easy to destroy it by "thumping it on the head"
2. An amorphous division of roles, so that the organization would not be affected by losing any of its units
3. Distribution of knowledge and power
4. Flexibility
5. Self-funding of units
6. Direct communication between the working groups

On top of the above characteristics, the authors define five building blocks of starfish organizations:

1. Circles: Decentralized organizations consist of autonomous and independent circles. When using Internet for communication, the circles become virtual, which are very easy to form and join. However, virtual circles also lack bonding between its members, and may be subject to free-riding or destructive behavior. Circles lack hierarchy or structure, but instead they depend on norms for realizing their objectives. These norms are self-enforced, members enforce them with one another. As a result, there is a sense of trust among the community.

2. The Catalyst: According to the authors, every open organization starts with a catalyst - a person who initiates a circle and then moves into the background, giving away control to the members. Catalysts let go of the leadership role, and transfer it to the circle.

3. Ideology: Decentralized organizations are built on a foundation of shared ideology.

4. The Preexisting Network: Very often, starfish organizations are started from the basis of a preexisting, decentralized platform. Currently, the Internet has become such platform. Because there are almost no entrance barriers for the Internet, it is very easy to launch web-based decentralized organizations in this environment.

5. The Champion: The champion represents another key role in starfish organizations, next to the catalyst. While catalysts envision the organization and inspire the members, champions actually implement the ideas and drive execution. Champions are key in gaining a critical mass of any movement, as they engage new members and "sell" the catalysts' vision.

Following the description of leaderless organizations, the authors define several rules that apply to the business world affected by decentralization:

1. Decentralized organizations tend to become more open and decentralized when attacked, while centralized organizations react with greater centralization to an attack.
2. Centralized and decentralized organizations are not easy to distinguish.
3. The knowledge and intelligence are spread throughout the system of starfish organizations.
4. Open systems can easily mutate.
5. The decentralized organization advance and grow unnoticed.
6. As industries become decentralized, overall profits decrease.
7. People are eager to contribute when they are in an open system.

Other topics covered in the book include a characteristic of catalysts, strategies to combat starfish organizations, and a hybrid business model (introducing decentralized elements into a centralized organization).

Overall, the book is quite an easy read thanks to many stories and examples. The ideas presented in the book are novel and may stimulate a rethinking of the rigid business models. However, it's only a popular book - there is no evidence supporting the presented models and principles, and everything is based on observation and conclusion from several examples.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A pleasure to read 905 527 b5326, 2008-05-12
This book is simply a great read. The best part about this book is the writing itself. It's simple, short and to the point. This book could have easily been dragged out over 400 pages, but it wasn't. It was just the right size.

Moreover, the concepts in the book were very well explained. My favorite section deals with how to battle something that is decentralized. This section is fantastic.

The only criticism I have is that the authors did not use a large variety of examples to support their arguments. They usually stuck to the same companies or anecdotes and just applied them to different situations. And don't get me wrong, they worked in each scenario. I just think it would've made the book that much better had they used a larger variety of real life examples.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Exceptional Read, 2008-02-23
I expected this book to make me think - based on both the title and others' recommendations - and it delivered. Insightful and thought-provoking.

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