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Hardcover
230 pages
ISBN 9781591841432 Published Oct. 2006
Portfolio
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Posted Aug. 5, 2008 9:43 a.m. by kate
In Big Ideas - 800 CEO Read Blog
The other day I had an interesting conversation with the two Brafman brothers -- Ori and Rom -- who wrote Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior. Turns out we shouldn't always trust our gut instinct. I just posted the podcast if you'd like to learn why that's true.
A few weeks back, the NYTimes interviewed the Ori and Rom. Their talk is geared around job interviews, first impressions, and "overcoming sway" professionally.
To give you a bit of biographical information, Ori's background is in business; you might recognize his name from a previous book and manifesto he co-authored. Rom's background is in psychology. For more on their book, check out their blog.
If you're interested in the subject of human rationality (or rather, irrationality), there have been a few titles out in the same vein -- Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational and Thaler and Sunstein's Nudge.
Amazon's Top Ten Business Books for 2006
Posted Dec. 12, 2006 5:49 a.m. by todd-sattersten
In Lists - 800 CEO Read Blog
Here is editors' list from Amazon for the best business books of 2006.
- The Long Tail by Chris Anderson*
- Making Globalization Work by Joesph Stiglitz
- Success Built To Last by Porras, et al.*
- The Starfish and The Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom*
- Knowledge and The Wealth of Nations by David Warsh
- Origin of Wealth by Eric Beinhocker
- Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert*
- Mavericks at Work by Bill Taylor and Polly LaBarre*
- Changing Minds by Howard Gardner
- Setting The Table by Danny Meyer*
*Six of these books were also chosen as Jack Covert Selects in 2006.
Jack Covert Selects: The Starfish and The Spider
Posted Nov. 13, 2006 4:19 a.m. by jack
The Starfish and The Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
By Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom, Portfolio, 240 Pages, $24.95, Hardcover, October 2006, ISBN 1591841437
I don't know many business books that start with a story about the Apache Indians in the 1600's. After the Spanish destroyed the Aztec and Incan empires, they looked north to the American Southwest. The Apaches didn't have anything of value, so the Spaniards tried to convert them into Catholic farmers. This didn't work out too well. Why? The Apaches have no central leader. There was no Montezuma or Atahuallpa to overthrow or bargain with. The Apaches were a decentralized organization that gained strength the more it was attacked.
You might be asking what this has to do with the world we live in today, business or otherwise. Have you heard of Craiglist or Skype? They are bound to do the same to newspapers and the phone as Napster and its descendants have done to the music industry. These are all organizations that are not dependent on a leader for its survival. And, of course, there is al Queda, another decentralized group that no one can seem to get a location on.
The metaphor of the starfish and the spider explains the authors idea so well. The spider is an eight-legged insect that, while it may survive the removal of one or two legs, it would surely die if it lost another leg or even its head. Most companies are spiders.
For a starfish, the removal of a leg means nothing. The leg grows back and another starfish grows from the removed leg. Decentralized organizations work the same way. If part of the organization is hurt or destroyed, the group fractures and grows from the broken pieces. This can also happen non-violently, like when an Alcoholics Anonymous circle forms where one is needed.
This book is more than interesting stories and cute metaphors. Like all good business book authors, Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom give you a number of frameworks to think about as you read the book. They provide a list of qualities that can help you identify what a leaderless organization looks like. They give you five factors that make these organizations work (circles, a catalyst, ideology, a pre-existing network, and a champion). They also give three strategies for fighting decentralized groups.
This book is loaded; I didn't even have time here to talk about the Quakers...
The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom
Posted Oct. 6, 2006 6:46 a.m. by 800-ceo-read
In Misc. - 800 CEO Read Blog
To introduce you to The Starfish and the Spider, here's a quip from inBubbleGuy:
Most organizations rely on a hierarchical chain-of-command structure. These companies are "spiders." On the other hand you have businesses like Wikipedia and Craigslist that don't rely on any central command or top-down strategy, yet continue to thrive without formal leadership. These are "starfish" organizations that are generally made up of smaller units capable of growing independently of each other. Craigslist Boseman Montana might flop, but Craigslist Milwaukee might grow beyond expectation. It's a decentralized
organization that doesn't rely on some board of directors sitting in New York to control what happens on a daily basis.
Read on to learn a bit more about starfish vs. spider organizations.
9. Are working groups funded by the organization,or are they self-funding?
Because they are autonomous, the units of a decentralized organization are almost always self-funding. In open organizations, there is often no central well of money. Individual units might receive funding from outside sources, but they are largely responsible for acquiring and managing those funds.
Things are different on the centralized end of the spectrum. While some departments produce profits, others traditionally incur costs. Headquarters redistributes revenues, ensuring that each department is adequately funded. Without central funding, departments cannot survive. If MGM, for example, decided to cut its entire marketing budget, the department would quickly die.
10. Do working groups communicate directly or through intermediaries?
Typically, important information in centralized organizations is processed through headquarters. In the 1935 hurricane, for example, Sheeran had to communicate his concerns to the folks in Jacksonville, who then made the decision about whether or not to contact the train operators. Likewise, in a typical firm the marketing department might conduct a study on the sales of a given product, then communicate the information to the companys executives, who would then decide how to respond to the market demands and
instruct the factory to increase or decrease production.
The Soviet government took this concept to an extreme. If a resident of Urengoy made a phone call to a friend in Tazovskiy, a hundred miles to the north, the call would be routed through Moscow, more than a thousand miles to the east. All phone calls were routed through Moscow. Why? The Kremlin wanted to keep tabs on what you were talking aboutwhether plotting to overthrow the government or locating spare parts for your tractor. The Soviets werent the first, or the last, to keep central control of communication
lines. Even the Roman empire, though spread around the world, maintained a highly centralized transportation system, giving rise to the expression All roads lead to Rome.
In open systems, on the other hand, communication occurs directly between members. Whether youre an Apache or an eMule user, you can communicate with other members directly. No roads lead to Rome because there isnt a Rome; you couldnt route your phone calls through Moscow even if you wanted to.
----
This excerpt comes from The Starfish and the Spiderby Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, Portfolio, October 2006.
Business Books: Fall 2006 Preview
Posted Aug. 31, 2006 5:45 a.m. by todd-sattersten
In Lists - 800 CEO Read Blog
I am starting to get asked what the big books for the fall are, so I thought I should get a list up here. As always, there is something for everyone.
September
- A Leader's Legacy by James Kouzes and Barry Posner (Jossey-Bass) - This is a follow-on to the best-seller The Leadership Challenge; alot of people like Kouzes and Posner's take on leadership.
- Hoopla by Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Powerhouse) - Powerhouse has been doing the Lovemarks/Kevin Roberts books and I have been looking forward to seeing what they do with another ad agency.
- Success Built to Last: Creating A Life That Matters by Jerry Porras et al. (Wharton School Publishing) - Built to Last author Porras this time asks what people rather than companies need to do to find success.
- Bangalore Tiger: How Indian Tech Upstart WIPRO is Rewriting the Rules of Global Competition by Steve Hamm (McGraw-Hill) - The senior writer goes inside this Indian phenom to find out what has brought all the success.
October
- Mavericks at Work: Why The Most Original Minds In Business Win by Bill Taylor and Polly LaBarre (William Morrow) - Bill and Polly created business conversation in the 90's at writing Fast Company magazine. If you have missed that passion and energy, you'll love the book.
- Tough Choices by Carly Fiorina (Portfolio) - This is going to be a big book. The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard tells her rise to the top and what happened when she got there.
- L.L. Bean: The Making of an American Icon by Leon Gorman (Harvard Business School Press) - Word has it that HBSP has been bugging the folks at L.L. Bean for years to do a book; it finally here and expect to see lots of cross-promotion in other L.L. Bean communications.
- Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage by Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston (Yale) - This title shows how companies can use green issues as a competitive weapon.
- The Starfish and The Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom (Portfolio) - What do Alcoholics Anonymous, Napster, and al Queda all have in common? No one runs them. I love this book and highly recommend you check it out.
- Setting the Table: The Power of Hospitality in Restaurants, Business, and Life by Danny Meyer (HarperCollins) - Meyer knows something about delivering service. His restaurants occupy four of the top twenty spots on Zagat's.
- Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps: How The NFL Became the Most Successful Sports Franchise in History by Mark Yost (Kaplan, Nov.) - This is about the business of football in all its glory.
