The Starfish and the Spider

I am taking the liberty to sneak in another book review here.  I just finished smoking and signing The Starfish and the Spider this morning and felt compelled to run to my computer and our site.

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"Who is in charge around here?"

"No one."

"Great, we got a chance!"

If I walk into a room and find a deck of cards scattered about on the table, my gut instinct is to organize them.  If I take over a new management position, my gut instinct is to line everyone up, organize them into their respective roles and manage away.

The Starfish...from Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom's wiki.

Cut off the arm of a starfish and it will grow a new one. Not only that, but the severed arm can grow an entirely new body. Starfish can achieve this feat because, unlike spiders, they are decentralized; every major organ is replicated across each arm.

The Spider...also from the lad's wiki.

Cut off the leg of a spider, and you have a seven-legged creature on your hands; cut off its head and you have a dead spider.

The Starfish and the Spider is about the structure of organizations.  The Starfish is a decentralized organization based upon an ideology with circles of participants initiated by catalysts who inspire the idea and get out of the way for a champion to take it to the next level.  Successful Starfish organizations organized around a preexisting network like, hmmmm, lemme see, uhhhh, ohhhh, oh yeah, the Ho'ohana Community. 

The Spider is a centralized, top-down management type of organization.  Yuck!  (ahhhh, satisfying use of editorial privilege:)

This is very well written book.  The authors do a remarkable job using parallel examples to help teach their point.  Although other folks have already made the comparison, I couldn't help but think of Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point as I read along.

Prior to, and most definitely since we collaborated on the Traveling MWA, I seemed to keep wanting us to be more organized.  After reading The Starfish and the Spider however, I have an entirely different point of view, although the roots of this viewpoint have been near and dear to my heart for a long time.

If you are a member of the JJL community here, I highly recommend reading this book!

Comments

[Steve Sherlock]

Good points, Dave. One of the glories of this JJL group is that we do move about in our own circles and yet one significant interaction is coming back here to JJL.

The amount of structure we need is still a discussion point. Do we need to always be focused like this month on books, or can be be less focused. What does this "less focusedness" look like and how would it work?

[Rosa Say]

Boy oh boy do you know how to lead a discussion Dave … I sense a wriggling starfish leg/champion here …

JJL was started with a group of people very good at assuming leadership roles when an idea compels them to be Kū Kanaka, ones who “stand tall” in that moment. In the six short months we’ve been a “starfish leg” of the original Ho‘ohana Community I’d offer there is one thing we’ve learned to be okay with; the ebbs and flows of energy where the starfish rests peacefully while its legs venture into seemingly separate directions. We’ve learned that the “ebbs” aren’t like the yellow lights cautioning a stop coming; they are more like the yellows which start to announce the magnificence of a spectacular new sunrise on the horizon, setting the stage for some spectacular oranges, pinks, and reds.

I’m a strong believer in structure for the comforts people count on in great organizational cultures, wherein a culture of value-based behavior is definitely created. In that respect, I’d offer that there are three values which have always come up in our discussions both online and off as we personally meet; inclusivity, optimism, and aloha in shared learning. We are learning to define transparency in this community, where SAYING “we want to be inclusive AND fully transparent” is but kindergarten. For example, this ALAWB forum was the first time in its 3-year history we sought to move all possible organization and structure from private email invitations and discussion to a very public comment conversation, this one:
http://www.joyfuljubilantlearning.com/joyful_jubilant_learning/2007/02/a_love_affair_w.html

We’ve also learned that “inclusivity” doesn’t mean everyone has to participate all the time in this community. It truly IS okay with us when they don’t because they are “ebbing” in that moment, or they are dancing in the energy of a different leg. However the leg still loves us, born from the values of our DNA, and proud of it. I am really loving this analogy!

What intrigues me most about it, is the view it’s giving me about growth, and how we continue to welcome and embrace it, for I personally admit to getting stuck in that management persona at times where I too want to “line everyone up, organize them into their respective roles and manage away.”

I’m off to order this book Dave.

P.S. For the curious hearing of it for the first time, I’ve linked my name in this comment with a summation of “the traveling MWA” Dave refers to.

[dave]

Thanks Steve! Even though this month's activities have to be organized to a point, they still emit decentralization. A centralized program would have had someone telling all reviewers which book to review.

Pure provocation Rosa :-) I didn't think I'd get to you this quickly. Not. Yes I did. I simply want to offer you a point of view...like a country musician taking in a classical session.

IMHO we are a decentralized group. But in the beginning I think we (me too) felt the need to organize. To the point that we do the book thing, yes. Or if a few (or all) feel like working on a project then we have the perfect platform.

Brafman and Beckstrom say if certain behaviors come to be, they knock the org cold into centralization. I don't want to say too much until a few have a chance to read this book.

I see myself as a catalyst under the lads parameters.

[Rosa Say]

You know me well Dave ... as long as I happen to be online, a few tasty morsels in the water and this fish will bite and get hooked - reel me in!