The Spiders are the standard, top down hierarchal organization. If the spider’s head becomes injured or severed from its body, the spider will die. Starfish, on the other hand, is an example of system where decision-making is distributed throughout the entire organization. If the leg of a starfish were to become severed, that starfish would simply grow a new leg. The severed leg will, in turn, grow into an entirely new starfish.

Brafman and Beckstrom cite numerous examples of how, in our new, interconnected world, Starfish organizations are dominating spiders because of their ability to remain flexible. These starfish are similar to Handy’s (1998) federal organization, except there is no federal core. The challenge is that many starfish organizations are nonprofit, not concerned with making money.

Can for profit companies adopt a starfish model? Handy’s (1998) shamrock organization might provide the right blend of centralization and decentralization to make it worthwhile for for-profit companies. Handy’s shamrock involves a core group of full-time, fully engaged workers and another “leaf” of part-time or contract individuals. This is where the starfish could reside (Brafman & Beckstrom, 2006). A company could be centralized on one-leaf and decentralized on another. In fact, one company does: eBay.

eBay has a core group of full-time employees who handle the framework of the site, monitor it, market it and are involved in operations similar to a traditional company. However, the attraction of the site is its marketplace. Users can create auction listings and buy from each other. Users rate sellers and buyers in order to provide good users with references. Other than the optional PayPal payment system, the marketplace is completely decentralized. eBay charges for listings and, sometimes, takes a cut of the sale price. In doing so, the company has built a large revenue stream; large enough to acquire many other companies. But the attraction of buying on eBay isn’t eBay; it’s the starfish. It’s the fact that it is a decentralized marketplace where people can great good deals on DVD players, or unload that unused, out-of-date iPhone.

Brafman, O. & Beckstrom, R. A. (2006) The starfish and the spider: The unstoppable power of leaderless organizations. New York, NY: Portfolio.

Handy, C. (1998). The age of unreason. Boston: The Harvard Business School Press.

Morgan, G. (2005). Imaginization: New mindsets for seeing, organizing and managing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

The Spiders are the standard, top down hierarchal organization. Their structure consists of a leader with several subordinates, each of whom also have subordinates. This type of structure is a very top down approach to organizing leadership. Control & decision-making are contained in one part of the spiders’ body: its head. It’s the head that is responsible for all decisions. For example, if the spider wants to move somewhere, its head notifies its legs of where they’re going and they’re off. If the spider’s head becomes injured or severed from its body, the spider will die.

Starfish, on the other hand, is an example of system where decision-making is distributed throughout the entire organization. Control and decision-making are distributed across the entire body. If the starfish wants to move somewhere, each individual leg makes the decision to move. If the leg of a starfish were to become severed, that starfish would simply grow a new leg. The severed leg will, in turn, grow into an entirely new starfish.

Spider organizations are centralized and rely on visible and controlling leaders. Starfish organizations are decentralized and do not rely on one specific leader. What happens when a spider fights a starfish? The spider will fight it like a spider. It will severe a limb of the starfish, and the starfish will grow another. The cycle will continue until a) the spider loses from fatigue or b) the starfish ceases to be a starfish (stops being leaderless).

Typically, reviews on this site tend to focus on leadership theory. However, Brafman and Beckstrom lay a foundation for a new field: leaderless theory. As society becomes more connected, leaderless organizations are becoming more coming. The Starfish and the Spider makes a compelling case that it is time for us to study them for organizations to gain the insight to adapt and become more starfish like. The starfish and the spiders are battling, and the starfish are winning convincingly.