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12th out of 58 books
—
14 voters
The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
by
Ori Brafman (Goodreads Author),
Rod A. Beckstrom
If you cut off a spider?s head, it dies; if you cut off a starfish?s leg it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditional top-down organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of business and the world.
What?s the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and...more
What?s the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
July 29th 2008
by Portfolio Trade
(first published January 1st 2006)
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This is a good book to recommend to people who are not familiar with the idea of "community and conversation over command and control." If you are at all familiar with this concept, why/how open source communities work, and why the war on terror or the war on drugs are destine to fail, you could probably write this book yourself. Nonetheless, a good collection of anecdotes.
Определено най-вдъхновяващата книга, която някога съм чел!
http://knigazateb.com/knigi/nehudojes...
Тя е радикална, вдъхновяваща и обсебваща. И е от онези книги, които могат да накарат всеки да промени навиците си и дори бизнеса си, рискувайки всичо в името на една привидно щура идея. Мога съвсем честно да си призная, че тя промени и мен. Вече съм само редактор „Новини“ в сайта, който създадох и след това развих заедно с няколко души, но това ме прави още по-щастлив!
Двамата автори имат много прост...more
http://knigazateb.com/knigi/nehudojes...
Тя е радикална, вдъхновяваща и обсебваща. И е от онези книги, които могат да накарат всеки да промени навиците си и дори бизнеса си, рискувайки всичо в името на една привидно щура идея. Мога съвсем честно да си призная, че тя промени и мен. Вече съм само редактор „Новини“ в сайта, който създадох и след това развих заедно с няколко души, но това ме прави още по-щастлив!
Двамата автори имат много прост...more
1 like · like · see review
Mar 14, 2012
Anoud
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
self-help
This book was recommended to my freinds and I when we were in a private meeting with Waddah Khanfar, former General Manager of Aljazeera, so you can imagine how excited I was to read it!!
Luckily, it is one of the really good books that I have come across. Interesting and thought-provocative!
The core idea here is decentralized organizations or even sometimes "leaderless" organizations! vs. Centralized ones. The author passionately argues that decentralization (which is represented through starfis...more
Luckily, it is one of the really good books that I have come across. Interesting and thought-provocative!
The core idea here is decentralized organizations or even sometimes "leaderless" organizations! vs. Centralized ones. The author passionately argues that decentralization (which is represented through starfis...more
Catalyst Tools
-Genuine interest in others.
-Numerous loose connections, rather than a small number of close connections.
-Skill at social mapping.
-Desire to help everyone they meet.
-The ability to help people help themselves by listening and understanding, rather than giving advice ("Meet people where they are").
-Emotional Intelligence.
-Trust in others and in the decentralized network.
-Inspiration (to others).
-Tolerance for ambiguity.
-A hands-off approach. Catalysts do not interfere with,...more
-Genuine interest in others.
-Numerous loose connections, rather than a small number of close connections.
-Skill at social mapping.
-Desire to help everyone they meet.
-The ability to help people help themselves by listening and understanding, rather than giving advice ("Meet people where they are").
-Emotional Intelligence.
-Trust in others and in the decentralized network.
-Inspiration (to others).
-Tolerance for ambiguity.
-A hands-off approach. Catalysts do not interfere with,...more
I enjoyed this book and found inspiration to use in organizations like STC.org where we have had some turbulence over the past few years.
I had the audio book version, which has a drawback: I don't have the lists that are referenced. For example, there are 5 legs of a decentralized organization. I remember one is ideology, but I don't remember the others. I would like this sort of thing written down so they are easier to reference. I have searched for the lists and am slowly piecing the bits toge...more
I had the audio book version, which has a drawback: I don't have the lists that are referenced. For example, there are 5 legs of a decentralized organization. I remember one is ideology, but I don't remember the others. I would like this sort of thing written down so they are easier to reference. I have searched for the lists and am slowly piecing the bits toge...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Reviewed by Craig Williams
The overleaf of this book says, “If you cut off a spider’s head, it dies; but if you cut off a starfish’s leg, it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditional top-down organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of business and the world.”
A friend of mine observes in a dissertation that church organization often follows the organizational structures of the prevailing culture. In the 50’s denom...more
The overleaf of this book says, “If you cut off a spider’s head, it dies; but if you cut off a starfish’s leg, it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditional top-down organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of business and the world.”
A friend of mine observes in a dissertation that church organization often follows the organizational structures of the prevailing culture. In the 50’s denom...more
I read this book a while ago, but a recent conversation caused me to revisit it. It's a pretty interesting read, but doesn't, to my mind, provide any major insights. It is true that de-centralized organizations are really hard to topple. The authors make this point again and again, coming back repeatedly to Napster and online file sharing as their prime example.
The thing is, that all the successful organizations they profile started with pretty low stakes. How many kids came up with ideas for so...more
The thing is, that all the successful organizations they profile started with pretty low stakes. How many kids came up with ideas for so...more
1 like · like · see review
A really interesting read on organizational structure and leadership. Traditional organizations are often hierarchical and authoritarian. Like spiders, if you cut off a leg (or department), it's weakened; if you cut off it's head (leader/board), and it's dead. Other organizations, however, resemble a starfish, which reproduce a new leg when one is severed (and in fact the severed leg becomes a new starfish!). These organizations are decentralized. Rather than organized around structural authorit...more
Dec 16, 2010
Nada Abandah
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorite,
recommended
The book has a great concept, and really opens up a new dimension of thinking, especially in the current economy. The authors have done a great job researching, and getting excellent examples and related cases that supports the main concept of the book. After the middle of the book, no new ideas or concepts were presented, and it kept repeating itself and going over the same points and examples presented from different angles.
There were a few points that the authors missed:
- How can the decentra...more
There were a few points that the authors missed:
- How can the decentra...more
As part of my MBA curriculum, I completed a review of this book. I will spare you the full paper, but I highly enjoyed reading the theories outlined in this book. It is thoughtful and insightful, although at times the idea seems a bit stretched.
My greatest issue with Brafman's ideas is the issue of motivation - one of the most challenging topics any organization will come across. Brafman does touch on some of the motivating factors behind how and why leaderless organizations work, but I would h...more
My greatest issue with Brafman's ideas is the issue of motivation - one of the most challenging topics any organization will come across. Brafman does touch on some of the motivating factors behind how and why leaderless organizations work, but I would h...more
An interesting approach to an old question: centralized or decentralized organizations? Brafman and Beckstrom give a largely anecdotal account of the way decentralized organizations (starfish) are well-situated to respond to the ever-changing nature of modern society. Highly centralized organizations (spiders) are thought to be, for the most part, incapable of responding to change. Replete with lists of principles, the text is an introduction to the concept and includes a limited bibliography fo...more
I’m a bit late to this, for The Starfish and the Spider was quite the darling of business book readers when it was published in 2006, and reading it now I can understand why. In the new Epilogue written for this edition, author Ori Brafman talks about “speaking starfish” saying, “it’s been exciting to see Starfish provide a language for people to describe their organizations,” something I can definitely understand and echo, for clear vocabulary and a strong language of intention is key in effect...more
A good read, and flushes out an apt metaphor in the Age of the Internet -- namely, the difference between a starfish and a spider. Lop off the head of a spider and it dies. But a starfish, OTOH, is not killed in such a manner and treating it in spider-like fashion is a futile exercise.
This book has received a lot of commendable feedback and while I am in agreement with the message, it was excessively repetitive and redundant -- the same stories (Napster, Apaches v. Spanish, Wikipedia, Craigslis...more
This book has received a lot of commendable feedback and while I am in agreement with the message, it was excessively repetitive and redundant -- the same stories (Napster, Apaches v. Spanish, Wikipedia, Craigslis...more
The Starfish and the Spider by Orj Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
This book was published back in 2006, but I only discovered it recently. The main topic is a discussion of decentralized (starfish) organizations versus centralized (spider) organizations. While I have been living with decentralized organizations for a long time, it is nice to see the differences, and the usefulness, of decentralized organizations laid out in such a clear fashion with some great examples.
From Napster to AA tto Britis...more
This book was published back in 2006, but I only discovered it recently. The main topic is a discussion of decentralized (starfish) organizations versus centralized (spider) organizations. While I have been living with decentralized organizations for a long time, it is nice to see the differences, and the usefulness, of decentralized organizations laid out in such a clear fashion with some great examples.
From Napster to AA tto Britis...more
Jul 05, 2010
Janell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those interested in business, organization, leadership
This novel by Brafman, an organizational expert, and Beckstrom, a "serial start-up entrepreneur", discusses the differences in "starfish" vs. "spider" organizations. Starfish, or decentralized, organizations are those such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Craigslist, who are without a clear leader and like the starfish, can survive even if one of its proverbial "legs" were cut off. Spider, or traditional "centralized" organizations, such as MGM, rely on a CEO-based organization and should a "leg" or t...more
This is a great book that would go well with "Good to Great." It allows us to see the obvious nature of how organizations form and why they form and how that effects what they organize themselves to do.
Great, great book. You find it under "Management and Leadership" at B&N but I promise that it doesn't read like a text book. Very interesting and a very easy read; explains how and why leaderless organizations (starfish) thrive and how structured, top down organizations (spiders) run into trouble and sometimes fail. Not saying that all structured organizations/companies with a CEO fail but it shows how organizations/institutions like AA, Wikipedia, online music sharing, Craigslist, terrorist...more
I ran out of books to read on vacation and ended up reading this business book I had brought for Dennis. I did not have high hopes for it as reading a business book really didn't sound appealing, but it was actually very good! Well written and interesting, it made for a quick read. While the book was about centralized versus decentralized leadership of companies, the authors used interesting and relevant examples to illustrate their points, such as the MGM versus companies like Napster, the U.S....more
This book discuses the difference between centralized and decentralized organizations. A spider has a head and a body with eight legs coming out of it. If the spider loses a few legs it will not be able to function as well but it will still live. If you take out its head, it dies. A centralized organization has a clear leader, a hierarchy that is necessary for it to function. A starfish is a completely different creature. A starfish has no central brain. The organism is completely decentralized...more
A great contributor to my learning about distributed networks. Using existing platforms to build from was my biggest ah-ha. I didn't know I had so much to thank the Quakers for. I'm also pretty excited about reading the essays of the abolitionists. I can see platforms everywhere now and it's helping me think about how I can further decentralize a few new business models I'm working on.
An unexpected bonus/drag: this book was also a lens into US foreign affairs. When I read the chapter on centrali...more
An unexpected bonus/drag: this book was also a lens into US foreign affairs. When I read the chapter on centrali...more
1 like · like · see review
“The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations”
Respect.
Consider this a companion piece to The Long Tail.
The influence and potential for decentralization in the modern world is palpable, from the Internet to terrorist networks. And thus, the metaphor: cut the head off of a centralized power and it dies (spider), but cut the arm off of a decentralized power and it mutates into several powers (starfish).
With only one caveat: the authors spend much time describing how superior Toyota and its dec...more
Respect.
Consider this a companion piece to The Long Tail.
The influence and potential for decentralization in the modern world is palpable, from the Internet to terrorist networks. And thus, the metaphor: cut the head off of a centralized power and it dies (spider), but cut the arm off of a decentralized power and it mutates into several powers (starfish).
With only one caveat: the authors spend much time describing how superior Toyota and its dec...more
Swimming in case studies and real world examples this book dives into deeper waters where we can more closely observe decentralized organizations. The authors proceed to effectively dissect decentralized organizations and clearly communicate the essence of what makes them so powerful. A key component in the success of a "starfish" organization is the critical role played by the "Catalyst" who acts as architect, cheerleader, and finally the observer. The book was stimulating overall and has got m...more
1 like · like · see review
I read it because I read Sway. A strategy book about decentralization. In the book, several examples taken from different historical eras where a decentralized community is described and, sometimes, compared to a centralized one from the same background. Each example is written in a story telling way that kept me eager to know what's coming next. Although the examples were meant, in essence, to make one point which is: hitting what you believe to be the head of a decentralized organization will...more
Fascinating book about how leaderless organisations have been game-changers. It is about how Catalysts and Champions build leaderless organizations (what the authors call 'circles') that pull people in to a cause and empower them.
Some things I want to think about are:
- How and where can the hybrid model (proposed by the authors)--between a traditional, hierarchy structure and a leaderless, decentralized structure, be leveraged?
- What are the leadership skills needed to achieve the above?
Definite...more
Some things I want to think about are:
- How and where can the hybrid model (proposed by the authors)--between a traditional, hierarchy structure and a leaderless, decentralized structure, be leveraged?
- What are the leadership skills needed to achieve the above?
Definite...more
An interesting read about how decentralization of an organization leads to opportunities.
The first major principle of decentralization: when attacked a decentralized organization tends to become even more open and decentralized.
(When you cut off a spider's head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish's leg, it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditionally top-down organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of busin...more
The first major principle of decentralization: when attacked a decentralized organization tends to become even more open and decentralized.
(When you cut off a spider's head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish's leg, it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditionally top-down organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of busin...more
The central premise of this book is that many important organizations operate more powerfully when they are decentralized. Essentially, the starfish is an organism lacking a CNS. Each arm requests the cooperation of the others to coordinate movement, and cutting off its legs allows regeneration. Terrorist cells, Wikipedia, and craigslist all operate similarly. The book explains traits, including strengths and weaknesses, of these starfish-like organizations as opposed to more traditional central...more
If you liked this book, you will also like The Cluetrain Manifesto. While I enjoyed the book, it felt to lack the weight of a definitive work. It seemed like they had a theory and found a few examples that would support it rather than deeply studying a phenomenon and finding the intrinsic nature of it. I also think that the authors allowed their politics (not a capital P) slip into the book just enough to reinforce that feeling that they had an agenda rather than reporting on a world-changing ag...more
This was an interesting book about styles of business management, and why certain organizations function better than others. They propose an interesting idea that companies need to find a balance between a top down CEO style company, and a decentralized organism. Successful companies with business models like these include eBay and Google. I liked how simple and easy this book was to read and understand, especially since business isn't one of my strong points. The 3 star rating was because of th...more
A contrasting look at two different organizational structures, centralized and decentralized, and their relevance in the past as well as their practical applications today. Sometimes business books exist to champion a specific methodology ignoring the existence and viability of alternatives. The Starfish and the Spider is not one of those books, because it eloquently presents arguments for both structures presented.
The Starfish and the Spider is a great read for anyone in leadership as well as m...more
The Starfish and the Spider is a great read for anyone in leadership as well as m...more
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Sep 12, 2011 01:16am