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{{Infobox book
|name             = The Starfish and the Spider
|title_orig       = 
|translator       = 
|image            = Starfishandthespiderbook.png
|caption          = Cover
|alt              = Cover of The Starfish and the Spider
|author           = {{unbulleted list|[[Ori Brafman]]|[[Rod Beckstrom]]}}
|illustrator      = 
|cover_artist     = 
|country          = United States
|language         = English
|series           = 
|subject          = 
|genre            = 
|publisher        = [[Portfolio (publisher)|Portfolio]]
|pub_date         = October 5, 2006
|english_pub_date = 
|media_type       = 
|pages            = 240
|isbn             = 9781591841432
|oclc             = 67393090
|dewey            = 
|congress         = 
}}

'''''The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations''''' is a 2006 book by [[Ori Brafman]] (author of the 2010 book ''Click: The Magic of Instant Connections'') and [[Rod Beckstrom]]. It is an exploration of the implications of the rise of [[decentralized]] organizations such as [[Grokster]] and [[Wikipedia]]. The book contrasts them to centralized organizations, such as ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', using compendia of knowledge as examples. The [[spider]] and [[starfish]] [[analogy]] refers to the contrasting biological nature of the respective organisms, starfish having a decentralized neural structure permitting [[Regeneration (biology)|regeneration]].

In addition to giving historical examples of decentralized organizations such as [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] and the [[Apache]]s and analyzing their nature in contrast to centralized organizations, the book considers conflict between centralized and decentralized organizations, including the "If you can't beat them, join them" solution of creating hybrid organizations such as [[Citizendium]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} A chapter towards the end of the book explores the concept of the "sweet spot", the optimal mix of decentralized and centralized attributes.

==Summary==
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[[Donald B. Verrilli Jr.|Don Verelli]] was an attorney who championed the effort for [[MGM]] to crack down on the [[peer-to-peer]] music website [[Grokster]]. But although the record labels won the lawsuits, other groups such as [[Kazaa]], and [[eMule]] surfaced. The authors compare the record companies to "spiders" &ndash; organizations under the control of a central brain or leader &ndash; while the smaller organizations are more like "starfish" &ndash; if a limb is severed, the remaining parts are able to regenerate the entire body, resulting in two or more starfish. The spider organization is compared to the [[Aztec Empire]] which fell when [[Moctezuma II|Montezuma]] was defeated by [[Hernán Cortés]] and his Spanish army, but the starfish organization is compared to the [[Apache indians|Apaches]], who decentralized and became nomadic, and which the Spanish army could not defeat.

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Dave Garrison of [[Netcom (United States)|Netcom]] attempts to explain the Internet to executives in Paris, but is met with questions such as who would run the Internet. The authors look into the starfish [[Alcoholics Anonymous]], which survives and thrives even away from the founder. They also look into the history of the music industry since the 19th century from live performers to recording on small labels to ownership from the big five record companies to [[Napster]] and other [[peer-to-peer]] networks. They list questions that determine whether an organization is more like a spider or a starfish. The authors discuss some founders of starfish organizations: [[Niklas Zennstrom]] and [[Skype]]; [[Craig Newmark]] and [[Craigslist]]. They discuss the formation of the [[Apache Software Foundation|Apache software model]] and how editors work on [[Wikipedia]] articles. They then discuss the starfish self-organization of participants in the [[Burning Man]] festival.

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English lawyer [[Granville Sharp]]'s decision to defend the freedom of a slave named Jonathan Strong leads him to connect with the [[Quakers]] and to advocate for the abolition of the slave trade. The authors use Sharp's story to illustrate five foundational principles called the Five Legs: 1) Circles; 2) The Catalyst; 3) [[Ideology]]; 4) The Preexisting Network; 5) The Champion. They apply the Five Legs to the story of [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] who served as a catalyst to the [[women's rights movement]] in the USA with [[Susan B. Anthony]] as the champion. They then focus on some examples of catalysts: [[Jimmy Wales]] of Wikipedia; Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez, who worked for the city of San Francisco and later Goodwill; entrepreneur [[Auren Hoffman]] and Josh Sage. They list a set of catalyst's tools including: Genuine Interest in Others, Loose Connections, Mapping, Desire to Help, Meet People Where They Are, [[Emotional Intelligence]], Trust, Inspiration, Tolerance for Ambiguity, Hands-Off Approach and Receding. They contrast the work of a catalyst with that of a CEO.

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Using the [[Animal Liberation Front]] as an example of a decentralized group similar to [[Al-Qaeda]], the authors suggest three strategies of dealing with decentralized groups: Changing Ideology (or introducing better competing ideologies), Centralizing Them (Cow Principle, what defeated the Apaches), and Decentralizing Yourself (If you can't beat 'em, join 'em) The authors suggest organization uses a hybrid model that blends both centralized and decentralized concepts, such as with [[eBay]]. They also cite other instances of hybrids such as [[Amazon.com]] letting volunteer reviewers contribute and [[Intuit]] having a TaxAlmanac website for people to help each other. The authors discuss [[Peter Drucker]]'s assessment of [[General Motors]]'s management process, how it led to [[Toyota]] taking over the auto industry, and how they later collaborated on the [[NUMMI]] plant. Similarly the [[iTunes]] model of pricing single songs has been a "sweet spot" for Apple and their [[online music store]], and other companies are moving to an [[open-source model]] with their software.

<!-- Ch. 9 -->
The authors use a series of analogies throughout their book, summarizing their thoughts with Ten Rules: [[Diseconomies of scale]], The network effect, The power of chaos, Knowledge at the edge, Everyone wants to contribute, Beware the [[Lernaean Hydra|hydra response]], Catalysts rule, The values are the organization, Measure Monitor and Manage, and Flatten or be flattened.
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==Concepts==
===Catalysts===
The book identifies a set of people the authors call "catalysts", who tend to be skilled at creating decentralized organizations. The authors list several abilities and behaviors (called "The Catalyst's Tools") that "catalysts" have in common, including:
# Genuine interest in others.
# Numerous loose connections, rather than a small number of close connections.
# Skill at social mapping.
# Desire to help everyone they meet.
# The ability to help people help themselves by listening and understanding, rather than giving advice ("Meet people where they are").
# [[Emotional intelligence]].
# Trust in others and in the decentralized network.
# Inspiration (to others).
# Tolerance for ambiguity.
# A hands-off approach. Catalysts do not interfere with, or try to control the behavior of the contributing members of the decentralized organization.
# Ability to let go. After building up a decentralized organization, catalysts move on, rather than trying to take control.
 
This book has some similarities to books like ''[[The Tipping Point (book)|The Tipping Point]]'', by [[Malcolm Gladwell]], as both identify certain sets of people who are important to change in a society or an organization, and try to define the attributes that people belonging to these sets have in common.  The theoretical base draws richly from complexity writers in management, such as Ralph Stacey, [[Margaret Wheatley]], [[Dee Hock]], Doug Griffin, Patricia Shaw, John Holland, and [[Robert Axelrod]], among others.  The book provides an original and accessible way to see these principles in action.

"A leader is best when people barely know that he exists; not so good when people obey and acclaim him; worst when they despise him." (p115) (Lao-tzu)

"As a catalyst, it's all about letting go and trusting the community." (p111)

=== The Major Principles of Decentralization ===
# When attacked, a decentralized organization tends to become even more open and decentralized (p21)
# It's easy to mistake starfish for spiders (p36)
# An open system doesn't have central intelligence; the intelligence is spread throughout the system (p39)
# Open systems can easily mutate (p40)
# The decentralized organization sneaks up on you (p41)
# As industries become decentralized, overall profits decrease (p45)
# Put people into an open system and they’ll automatically want to contribute (p74)
# When attacked, centralized organizations tend to become even more centralized (p139)

=== Decentralized Networks ===

Energy - Catalyst - Ideology - Circles - Protocols
--->

== Reception ==
{{empty section|date=October 2018}}

== See also ==
* [[Leaderless resistance]]
* [[Unorganisation]]
* [[The Cathedral and the Bazaar]]

== Works cited ==
* ''The Starfish And the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations'', Penguin (October 5, 2006), hardcover, 230 pages, {{ISBN|1-59184-143-7}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* Originally adapted from the [[Wikinfo]] article [https://web.archive.org/web/20070210021947/http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=The_Starfish_And_the_Spider ''The Starfish and the Spider'']

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.starfishandspider.com/}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Starfish and the Spider, The}}
[[Category:2006 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Organizational structure]]
[[Category:Works about social movements]]
[[Category:Community building]]