The Starfish And The Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

  • 5h 32m 38s
  • Ori Brafman, Rod Beckstrom
  • Gildan Media
  • 2007

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.

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 A. 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.

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.

In this Audiobook

  • INTRODUCTION
  • CHAPTER 1: MGM'S MISTAKE AND THE APACHE MYSTERY
  • CHAPTER 2: THE SPIDER, THE STARFISH, AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNET
  • CHAPTER 3: A SEA OF STARFISH
  • CHAPTER 4: STANDING ON FIVE LEGS
  • CHAPTER 5: THE HIDDEN POWER OF THE CATALYST
  • CHAPTER 6: TAKING ON DECENTRALIZATION
  • CHAPTER 7: THE COMBO SPECIAL: THE HYBRID ORGANIZATION
  • CHAPTER 8: IN SEARCH OF THE SWEET SPOT
  • CHAPTER 9: THE NEW WORLD