the starfish and the spider
I’ve spent most of my time in the car the last few weeks listening my way through an Audible version of The Starfish and the Spider, by Ori Brafman & Rod Beckstrom. From my experience, I have found that audio books are a worthwhile replacement for print books, but this is one that I think my audio experience was inadequate because there are a number of ideas I would want to revisit and dwell on.
The premise of the book is that there are two types of organizations represented by starfish or spiders. Though both creatures might be similar in shape, they are significantly different. Spiders, and thus spider organizations, are centralized in their command structure. All direction radiates from the head in the center. Starfish are decentralized, but are comprised of five legs that operate seemingly independent of each other.
Brafman and Beckstrom write from the perspective of extolling the virtures of a decentralized organization, and as they describe it, I see many benefits as well. Ultimately, however, they end up emphasizing a hybrid form that contains elements both of centralization and decentralization. With a church plant sitting on my horizon and steadily drawing closer, there is much in this book that I want to revisit in the process of shaping how the church might function. And so, for the first time, a book that arrived in my library in audio form will need to be added in print as well. (Ahem…Christmas idea!)
Tags: books, church, leadership, ofi brafman, reading, rod beckstrom, the starfish and the spider
30. November 2007 at 09:49
This book is on my radar, as our group discusses ‘emerging’ ideas. Your post just clicked it up a couple of notches on my list. I hope to someday have a quarter of your reading discipline.
2. December 2007 at 13:30
John, I agree that this business book has much to say to us about church planting. It is more of a summary than a review but a couple of months ago I posted on the book and a few days later found an interesting CBS video on the church in China that connected will with the premise of the book. Might be helpful:
http://missionalchurchnetwork.com/the-starfish-the-spider/
http://missionalchurchnetwork.com/the-starfish-the-church-in-china/
31. December 2007 at 14:02
[...] Starfish and the Spider, by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom Blog entries: the starfish and the spider This is a book I have definite plans to revisit in the coming year as there are a lot of ideas [...]