If you cut off a spideras head, it dies; if you cut off a starfishas leg it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditional top-down organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of business and the world.
Whatas the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and General Electric have in common with the abolitionist and womenas rights movements? What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths?
Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom have discovered some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. "The Starfish and the Spider" explores what happens when starfish take on spiders and reveals how established companies and institutions, from IBM to Intuit to the U.S. government, are also learning how to incorporate starfish principles to achieve success.

Ori Brafman is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Born in Israel, and raised in El Paso, Texas, he has been an entrepreneur most of his life in business, government, and the nonprofit sector. While in college, he co-founded Vegan Action, which helped bring vegan foods into college dining halls and now has a network of over thirty-six national and international chapters. He was also co-founder of Courtroom Connect, a courtroom technology company, and in 2001, he co-founded Global Peace Networks, a network of over 1000 CEOs working on peace and economic development projects. Brafman has a B.A. in peace and conflict studies from UC Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He is considered an organizational expert and specializes in new ways of looking at business. His first book, The Starfish and the Spider (2006), was translated into 5 languages. Brafman has appeared on ABC, National Public Radio, Wall Street Journal/MarketWatch video, and CSPAN, and has had speaking engagements at Microsoft, Amazon, Stanford Business School, Harvard Business School, and other organizations. Brafman lives in San Francisco, California with his wife.