Crisis — Alcoholics Anonymous

The Starfish and the Spider is a management book. You would not think that a book on management would include a discussion of AA. But, this book is about AA.

Both spiders and starfish have central cores and outer limbs. But Starfish organizations are decentralized. Spider organizations are centralized.

Starfish organizations have separate arms, cells or groups. Cut the arm off a starfish, and it will grow another starfish. The arms are self-creating, with genetics from the original. Each arm has the capacity for independent life. In starfish organizations, each cell or group has the DNA of the original and can spawn a new group. Starfish organizations grow fast. Because each group is independent, it is impossible to kill a starfish organization. It is, in the modern management jargon, anti-fragile. It thrives in adversity and stress.

Spider organizations have separate arms, but they must be connected to the center core. Separate from the core, they are dead. The arms cannot replicate the original. Spider organizations have a command and control structure that can make unified decisions and resource deployments. They are generally more efficient and focused. But they can be killed; they can die. They are fragile. They are not as resilient as starfish organizations.

The book describes two quintessential starfish organizations, Al-Qaeda and early AA. Both organizations are made up of independent cells or groups.