The Starfish and the Spider, Ori Brafman
The Starfish and the Spider, Ori Brafman
7 Rating(s)
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The Starfish and the Spider
The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

Author: Ori Brafman, Rod A. Beckstrom

Narrator: Sean Pratt

Unabridged: 5 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 08/08/2011

Categories: Nonfiction, Self-help


Synopsis

If you cut off a spider's leg, it's crippled; if you cut off its head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish's leg, it grows a new one, and the old leg can grow into an entirely new starfish.

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 U.S. government, are also learning how to incorporate starfish principles to achieve success. This audiobook 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 that rare book that will change how you understand the world around you.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sarah on April 12, 2009

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 repea......more

Goodreads review by James on December 14, 2015

Great! I wish Brafman had written this, and I could have read it, decades ago. Brafman's thesis is that a centrally controlled organization is slowed by that central control, and can be paralyzed if something interferes with that system, while organizations that share a philosophy and goal, a knowled......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on July 01, 2023

My husband and I read this one together. This was such a fascinating book to read. And honestly, by the end, I was so impressed not only with the information but also how well written it was. What a masterful job! My husband’s input is: “In my opinion, this would be required reading for anyone who w......more

Goodreads review by Jack on November 02, 2016

I am happy I finally scratched this one off the list. Starfish and the Spider studies very distributed organizations. What the heck does that mean? Good question. We have been fighting them for decades. Terrorists. They operate in small, loosely networked cells. There really is no "leadership" per s......more

Goodreads review by Lorna on July 03, 2013

This book has the clue to the answer as to what we are to do about the corporations and the government ruining our country. It is OUR country. All of ours. Armed revolution is not the answer. It never works in the long run. We must do something that does work. Read this book and start thinking how i......more