Author: Ori Brafman , Rod Beckstrom

Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover

Pub. in: October, 2006

ISBN: 1591841437

Pages: 240

Measurements: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches

Origin of product: USA

Order code: BA00745

Other information: ISBN-13: 978-1591841432

This book ranks #1,104 in Books out of millions on Amazon.com as of May 14, 2007

"Starfish have an incredible quality to them. If you cut an arm off, most of these animals grow a new arm. And with some varieties, such as the Linckia, or long-armed starfish, the animal can replicate itself from just a single piece of an arm. ...They can achieve this magical regeneration because in reality, a starfish is a neural network - basically a network of cells. Instead of having a head like the spider, the starfish functions as a decentralized network..."

No matter how you identify yourself in the human ecosystem - worker bee, sheriff, manager, capitalist, entrepreneur, politician, healer, parent, activist or consultant - this book is going to turn on lights in your brain. It's that multi-layered. It's also that packed with the kind of simply brilliant insights that are totally familiar, and you wonder why you didn't remember that you knew that.

The Starfish and the Spider is a celebration of the power of human beings taking their destiny into their own hands, and a welcome break from the artificial, mechanical-like treatment of human attributes that has saturated "management" theories based on hierarchal organization. Beyond describing a much more natural way of employing human talents, this book is particularly noteworthy because it is about the success and achievement of starfish in a world that seems to be dominated by spider organizations.

Here are the main points the book makes:

- Starfish organizations have been around for a long time (e.g. The Apache Indians, Alcoholics Anonymous, the British Abolitionist movement, the American Women's Suffrage movement) but there has recently been a renaissance of new starfish organizations (e.g. Wikipedia, craigslist, Skype, eMule), riding the platform of the internet.

- Starfish organizations have three main DNA features: a shared ideology among members (e.g., for emule, "You should be able to download music for free"); a leader who acts like a catalyst instead of a CEO (e.g. Bill W. in AA); and independent circles (e.g. city-based craigslist communities).

- Starfish networks can be easily mistaken for traditional spiders, but they work and operate differently. Trying to kill off a starfish organization using spider tactics (e.g. banish the leader, sue the company) only serve to make the starfish network stronger.

- Although starfish companies do not usually generate high revenues, they can suck away revenues from an industry.

- Starfish organizations empower their members and can create a strong sense of community.

- Even though starfish communities can bring out the best in people, they can also be dangerous (e.g. al Qaeda). There are three successful ways to combat a starfish organization: change the underlying starfish ideology, create hierarchy by giving property rights to some members, become decentralized yourself).

The last part of the book talks about how spider companies (e.g. Toyota, GE, eBay) have successfully integrated some starfish qualities to become more flexible and resilient. But what really holds the book together and makes it great is that it proves that creativity, cooperation, and letting go have their own unique and unparalleled power.
- From quoting Keith and Gail Taylor

Target readers: Business people

Better with It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy :

			2 Buy with : ¥ 476.00
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