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

By Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom

Starfish and Spiders?

Spiders Hierarchical Clear leaders Departments Titles Communication is

difficult

Starfish Horizontal Structure Everyone has equal

say Can operate

sporadically Direct communication

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Ryuthela.secundaria.female.-.takinawa.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Starfish.jpg

For Example…

http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/25966-hi-napster.jpg?tag=mantle_skin;content

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Edonkey2000_logo.gif

http://www.hostsaint.com/webhosting/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=57

http://dnn.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/borderlands/25/Images/AA%20Logo.jpg

http://images.gizmag.com/hero/skype.jpghttp://clovisexperts.com/files/2009/09/craigslistLogo.gif

http://www.bittorrent.com/

http://www.textually.org/ringtonia/archives/2010/06/05/limewire-logo.jpeg

http://blog.toggle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/emule_logo1.jpg

http://www.blogsdna.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/kazaa-logo.gif

And to a Lesser Extent…

http://www.supermopi.com/joomla/images/stories/mopi_photos/amazon.jpg

http://blogs.ft.com/fttechhub/files/2010/01/ebay-logo.jpghttp://www.fredberinger.com/images/google_logo.jpg

Examples of Starfish

The following examples are explicitly stated in the book

Skype Craigslist Apache (web software, and Native

Americans) Wikipedia

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Blue_starfish_in_Papua_New_Guinea.jpg

How is Skype a Starfish?

Free program

Enabled to talk to others using the program

Distributed computing power using p2p

http://www.chipchick.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/hoaxcall.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U4mS133rdMA/S-FIZYH3X4I/AAAAAAAAAQI/o2zQQM6NcAg/s400/angry-on-the-phone.gif

What about Craigslist?

Direct interaction between users

Craigslist is only a platform to use

No history between users, just come and go

Originally just an idea between Craig and friendshttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Handshake_%28Workshop_Cologne_%2706%29.jpeg

Apache (web software)

Engineers were unhappy with being ignored

Contributors developed code and patches

These were implemented based on which ones worked the best

No formal direction

http://haacked.com/Images/haacked_com/WindowsLiveWriter/twitter-maintenance.gif

Apache (Native Americans)

Spiritual leaders called Nan’tans

Based on previous reputation

Nobody was obligated to follow

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Apache_portraits.jpg

Alcoholics Anonymous Formed from a previous church

program using 6 steps

Formation of the circle group aided cohesion

Added and expanded to other situations

http://www.aa.org/pics_site/noflash_people.gif

P2P Technologies

Based on sharing Everyone contributes Adds to the value of the network

with new members Always under development

http://openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/11/08/wed_photos2.html

http://www.wikinoticia.com/images/alt1040/cdn.alt1040.com.files.2010.11.online-video-p2p.jpg

Wikipedia

The famous and well-known Wikipedia

Anyone can contribute Can be applied to almost anything

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Wikipedia_Michelangelo.JPG

Major Principles

First: When attacked, a decentralized organization tends to become even more open and decentralized

Second: It’s easy to mistake starfish for spiders

Third: An open system doesn’t have central intelligence; the intelligence is spread throughout the system

Principles (cont.)

Fourth: Open systems can easily mutate

Fifth: The decentralized organization sneaks up on you

Sixth: As industries become decentralized, overall profits decrease

Seventh: When attacked, centralized organizations tend to become even more centralized

Ingredients

Circles The Catalyst Ideology The Preexisting

Network The Champion

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Baking.jpg

Catalysts

Most important part of the Starfish

Germinate the idea and help to spread it until it can grow on its own

Very separate from a CEO

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/courses/c2005/purves6/figure06-14.jpg

What are Ways to Defeat the Starfish?

Change the ideology

Make them more centralized

Decentralize yourself

Are Starfish Organizations Better? There’s give and take

Decrease in profits

Give up direction

Gain valuable information

Able to respond quicker

Hybrid Organizations

Centralized company that decentralizes

customer experience

Google Amazon eBay

Centralized company that decentralizes internal parts of

the business

Jack Welch and GE

How Can We Find a Balance?

Story of Toyota and GM

Mixing and mingling employees

This balance may change over time

Rules to Keep in Mind for the New Age

1. Diseconomies of Scale

2. The Network Effect

3. The Power of Chaos

4. Knowledge at the Edge

5. Everyone Wants to Contribute

http://nummynims.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/starfishpile.jpg?w=500&h=333

Rules (cont.)

6. Beware the Hydra Response

7. Catalysts Rule

8. Values ARE the Organization

9. Measure, Monitor, Manage

10.Flatten or be Flattened

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2009/11/spiders_4b.jpg

Personal Thoughts on the Book

Disappointed there was no mention of Bittorrent, Freenet, Tor, or Linux

http://1stblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/freenetproject.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Tor_logo0.png

http://www.welove-music.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/torrent.jpg