The Starfish and the Spider
The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
Penguin Publishing Group · Print & ebook · July 29, 2008
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.
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- Who it’s for
- A lively look at how decentralized organizations challenge familiar models of power.
- Themes
- Leaderless organizations, Top-down versus decentralized structures, Organizational change
- Genres
- Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior
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Start with this bookAbout this book
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 General Electric have in common with the abolitionist and women's rights movements?
Continue reading
What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths? Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom have discovered some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. The Starfish and the Spider explores what happens when starfish take on spiders and 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.
Networks at Work
A lively look at how decentralized organizations challenge familiar models of power.
Come here for
- Unexpected links across business, technology, and social movements
- Stories that make organizational ideas tangible
Expect
- A contrast between top-down and decentralized models
- Connections spanning companies and movements
Where it sits
| Leadership | 76% |
|---|---|
| Management | 39% |
| Organizational Behavior | 31% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Organizational Behavior
- Workplace Culture
- Social Theory
- Authors
- Ori Brafman, Rod A. Beckstrom
- Publisher
- Penguin Publishing Group
- Published
- July 29, 2008
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Leaderless organizations · Top-down versus decentralized structures · Organizational change
- Reading lane
- Organizational Behavior