Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Book Review: The Starfish and the Spider

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless OrganizationsThe Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book has some great insights that may be of use in more areas that just business. the general theme is that if you cut off the leg of a starfish - it grows back - but if you cut off the head of a spider - it dies.

there are also some really fascinating stories that relate to the topic of the book.

i think this book - although a bit sluggish and repetitive at times - paints a compelling picture of what collaboration and communication can do in any group or organization. to be a starfish is to be leaderless, in a sense. examples like Wikipedia, Alcoholics Anonymous and the numerous P2P sites prove that leaderless groups and organizations can thrive.

as a youth minister - i am compelled to ponder how leaderless groups might benefit the church. that is food for thought... i intend to chew on it for a while.

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3 comments:

Kurt and Carla said...

I see that your reading the Bullpen Gospels. You'll have to chat with Kurt about that one. He read it last month!

Unknown said...

i was going to recommend he read that. didn't he play against hayhurst?

i'm about halfway through it.

i hear Hayhurst has a book deal now - two write two more books.

Unknown said...

oops... meant to type 'to write two more books.'

i know the difference between 'two' 'to' and 'too'. i promise.