The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

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Penguin, 2006 - 230 Seiten
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 US government, are also learning how to incorporate starfish principles to achieve success. The book 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 the rare book that will change how you understand the world around you.

 

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Autoren-Profil (2006)

Ori Brafman is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Born in Israel, and raised in El Paso, Texas, he has been an entrepreneur most of his life in business, government, and the nonprofit sector. While in college, he co-founded Vegan Action, which helped bring vegan foods into college dining halls and now has a network of over thirty-six national and international chapters. He was also co-founder of Courtroom Connect, a courtroom technology company, and in 2001, he co-founded Global Peace Networks, a network of over 1000 CEOs working on peace and economic development projects. Brafman has a B.A. in peace and conflict studies from UC Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He is considered an organizational expert and specializes in new ways of looking at business. His first book, The Starfish and the Spider (2006), was translated into 5 languages. Brafman has appeared on ABC, National Public Radio, Wall Street Journal/MarketWatch video, and CSPAN, and has had speaking engagements at Microsoft, Amazon, Stanford Business School, Harvard Business School, and other organizations.

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