The Shape of the Postmodern Corporation
The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
Penguin Group 2006
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? Why is it virtually impossible to win the war on terrorism through military means?
After five years of groundbreaking 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.
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.
Paul Saffo, director of the Institute for the Future, summarized the importance of this book when he says, “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.”
A large part of the bundle of reasons why companies like Starbucks, Whole Foods, Southwest Airlines and others we call firms of endearment have generally outperformed their competitors over the past 10 years is revealed in this book.
