If you cut off a spider\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head, it dies; if you cut off a starfish\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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.<\/p>\n
What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rights movements? What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths? After five years of ground-breaking research Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom have discovered some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. The Starfish and the Spider argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional \u00e2\u20ac\u0153spiders,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which have a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary \u00e2\u20ac\u0153starfish,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which rely on the power of peer relationships.<\/p>\n
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. And it will teach you:<\/p>\n
How the Apaches evaded the powerful Spanish army for 200 years
\nThe power of a simple circle
\nThe importance of catalysts, who have an uncanny ability to bring people together.
\nHow the Internet has become a breeding ground for leaderless organizations
\nHow Alcoholics Anonymous has reached millions of members with only a shared ideology and without a leader.<\/p>\n