The Power of Decentralized Organizations

The Book

The Starfish and the Spider; The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, Portfolio, by Penguin, London, 2006.

The Authors

Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom

Speed RAP

To describe a team or an organisation as ‘leaderless’ is a disparaging comment – or at least is used to be! It typically meant ‘ineffective, without purpose and operating like a rabble’. With the rise of the Internet, leadership just got redefined. A leaderful organisation requires a centralised or hierarchical structure of sorts to follow. A decentralized organisation does not need a leader. Think Wikipedia, viruses, Peer to Peer software and Alcoholics Anonymous. Be warned, the pendulum may be swinging toward leaderless organisation and your definitions of leadership may need to be rewritten.

Your Challenge

Your challenge is to redefine leadership. Start to notice where leadership is and isn’t in your life and your organisation. If you’re really game design a leaderless team and observe the results.

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