The title of the book comes from the fact that if you cut off a spider’s head, it dies; however, if you cut a starfish in half, what you’ve done is create a two animals. In fact, some starfish can even grow from the removed leg of another. Their persistence comes from the fact that they do not have a centralized, hierarchical control system. In the past, starfish organizations did exist, but the Internet “is a breeding ground and launching pad for new starfish organizations.” As such, the lessons the two authors outline are important.

Brafman and Beckstrom are masters of finding perfect examples to illustrate their points. They easily tie together Native American history, the automobile industry and P2P networks to provide insight into the nature of starfish organizations. For example, why were the Aztecs so easily conquered by Cortez but the Apache tribe remained fiercely independent for hundreds of years? The answer, it turns out, is the same reason record labels are languishing and Napster is dead, only to be replaced by BitTorrent and eMule. The Aztecs were highly centralized with a capital city, chain of command and stationary lifestyle; in contrast, the Apache’s relied on disparate communities led by example and willing to live nomadically – with no supreme leader to kill or towns to raze, the Apaches proved much more adept at avoiding conquest. Similarly, whereas Napster decentralized much of music sharing, it relied on a central database which was vulnerable to copyright enforcement. Newer approaches, like BitTorrent are fully decentralized making it near impossible to shut down.

These open systems are also, understandably, more adept at evolving or mutating. One prime example of a starfish organization is Alcoholics Anonymous which doesn’t have a real headquarters or leader. AA is just a system and belief in the power of people to help each other overcome addiction. Though it began as a system for alcoholics, it spawned decentralized programs for other addicts including gambling and eating.

By being decentralized, starfish organizations take advantage of distributed knowledge. Wikipedia does this famously by allowing anyone to edit an encyclopedia page; Draper Fisher, a leading VC firm, does it by having dozens of offices around the world to hear pitches from entrepreneurs. Starfish organizations rely on the community they foster and the willingness to contribute to a cause.

One of the things I like most about “The Starfish and the Spider” is the authors’ decision to structure it, in parts, as a business book with clear “how-to” and lists of strategies. One section in which they do this is how to combat decentralization. Al Qaeda is one of prototypical starfishes: they are more an ideology than an organization. Would-be terrorists do not need Osama bin Laden’s approval to carry-out an attack. In this light, it makes even less sense to hunt the 9/11 masterminds while not combating the ideology that motivates terrorists. Brafman and Beckstrom say that there are three ways to combat starfishes, none of them are to further centralize yourself, even though that is the tendency (witness the rise of the Executive branch post-9/11 or the record labels in recent years). You can change the ideology of the decentralized adherents by giving them reasons to not attack the West (a future or respect, perhaps?), centralize them (as America did by providing Apaches with cattle and therefore property), or decentralize yourself.

The key, though, for decision-makers and organizers, is to find the hybrid form like Toyota or eBay. Both major corporations, Toyota relies on their much-flaunted production system which relies on outsiders for much of it and eBay has a decentralized network of sellers and buyers, but a central payment system.

At 210 pages of fun examples, plain English and smart-thinking, this book was great (I finished it the day it arrived). Though I found their discussion of the catalysts (people who empower decentralized networks) a bit tiresome, I cannot complain about the rest. “The Starfish and the Spider” will provide an important way of thinking about the world.