The Starfish and the Spider

What happens when there's no one in charge? What happens when there's no hierarchy?

by Ori Brafman

Source: Goodreades. com

Title: The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
Author: Ori Brafman, Rod A. Beckstrom
Publisher: Portfolio
Year published: 2006
Number of pages: 230 pages

If you cut off a spider’s leg, it’s crippled; if you cut off its head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish’s leg it grows a new one, and the old leg can grow into an entirely new starfish.
What’s the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, Craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and General Electric have in common with the abolitionist and women’s rights movements? What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths? How could winning a Supreme Court case be the biggest mistake MGM could have made?

After five years of ground-breaking research, Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom share some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. The Starfish and the Spider argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional “spiders,” which have a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary “starfish,” which rely on the power of peer relationships.

The Starfish and the Spider explores what happens when starfish take on spiders (such as the music industry vs. Napster, Kazaa, and the P2P services that followed). It reveals how established companies and institutions, from IBM to Intuit to the US government, are also learning how to incorporate starfish principles to achieve success. The book explores:

* How the Apaches fended off the powerful Spanish army for 200 years
* The power of a simple circle
* The importance of catalysts who have an uncanny ability to bring people together
* How the Internet has become a breeding ground for leaderless organizations
* How Alcoholics Anonymous has reached untold millions with only a shared ideology and without a leader

The Starfish and the Spider is the rare book that will change how you understand the world around you.

***

For me, reading a non-fiction book is an achievement for me--because I couldn't easily focus to read one. The last non-fiction book that I review on this blog was How to Discourse Analysis: A Toolkit by James Paul Gee. From the title itself, I believe that everyone knows why I read that book, it was one of my assignment in college. So, reading a non-fiction book of my own will, it's much fascinating.

Will there be chaos if there is no leader in charge?

The Starfish and the Spider are about two types of organization that exist, namely centralized and decentralized organization. To explain the idea, the author used the analogue of starfish and spider for those two organizations.

This book suggests that at some point, a starfish organization, the one without the exact leader, could easily adapt to any challenge that they faced. Moreover, when a centralized organization tried to comfort the decentralized one, it won't be a success. The author uses MGM, Spain, and also French Investor as an example. 

The question afterwards is, do the leaderless organization will be the strongest type of all? Can they be defeated by the centralized?

Actually, after explaining the main characteristic of a starfish organization with a lot of case study, start from Apache, Napster, Skype, etc., the author also told us about how a starfish organization can be "defeated" and to some extent makes a hybrid organization is more favourable. I said favourable because, with the hybrid organization, they still can gain profit and also maintaining the sustainability of the organization.

My thought

Picture from Goodfon.com, edited by me.

Like I said before, I never expect that I could finish reading this book. I am very glad because this book is very easy to understand. I think a general reader could easily understand the concept of it. My supervisor at work said that he didn't really a fan of this book, but for me, as someone who used to read a fiction book, I can enjoy it.

One thing that I realized after reading this book is the role of the catalyst in every starfish organization. In my opinion, this person sounds like a saviour who can save the earth. I think, in this opportunistic world if someone wants to implement the concept of starfish organization in a business environment, the catalyst would be really easy to be "manipulated". Once the catalyst got power for the materialistic things, the organization will no longer become a starfish. They will, in the end, become a centralized-spider-organization.

Conclusion

This book is quite interesting in my opinion. Even though it's been published more than decades ago, the concept of it is still relevant. So, it is still worth to read for now.

But, should we be starfish? In my opinion, the most possible of all is to create a hybrid organization. We should admit that a starfish organization have their own weakness. Maybe this is a typical answer, but after all, that's the possible answer for now.

3.5 out of 5 stars for the analogy.

Sincerely,

Ra

Today is December 31st of 2020. Well, I never thought that 2020 will over in just about 12 hours. To be fair, we should agree that 2020 is a very tough year for everyone in the world. The pandemic has changed everything in life. Then, so many sad and depressing event has happened throughout this year.

In this post, I would like to try to recap what happened in my life in 2020. Of course, it won't be full of sunshine. There will be a lot of downfall state in my life. But, to write it all down could make my heart feel easier, right? So, let's begin.

Source: Google, edited by me

January

My highlight in January was when I finally got a chance to spend almost one month at home. After I got my job in early December 2019--and the fact that I could do my job at home, I decided to go home. I spent most of my time working and meeting some of my friends that month. To be honest, there is not much going on this month, but I was very grateful because I could be at home for almost a month.

February

After I got back to Jakarta, the day after it, me and my best friend, Nurul and Supri, went to Semarang to attend our senior's wedding, Kak Rina. Well, actually we got her wedding invitation from around November 2019. So, we decided, no matter what happened, we should come. 

Because we only had a very short time to stay at Semarang, we couldn't explore much. I am sad when remembering this. But after all, it felt so good that we can escape for a while.

Ps. This is my last trip before the pandemic. So, I felt very grateful.

March

Have you ever imagined that we will get experienced life on pandemics? To be honest, I never imagined that. I just thought that pandemic would only happen in movies or novels.. but, seems like my assumption was wrong. For as long as I remember, the first cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia were found in March. After that, everyone had panicked. They did a lot of panic buying and most of the government try to implement large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). 

Starting from this month, I know that this pandemic won't be over immediately. I have ready to not come back home at Eid of Mubarak. I have prepared myself.

Ps. I finally fell for BTS' rabbit hole and I am very grateful.

April

It's my birthday month. I am officially 24 in 2020. I spent my time working and exploring a lot of things. Anyway, since I could do my work remotely, the work-from-home policy didn't affect me as I had to do WFH from the very start.

But, I have to remember that in April, I reluctantly go anywhere. I always decline to go out because I was very scared of this pandemic situation. I bought most of my necessities online. I only go out of my rent room to buy some food supplies at the Supermarket. It felt so scary, tho.

Anyway, for my birthday, I was very flattered because he remembers it. But, I never know that it will be our last message before he was completely gone without saying anything.

May

I think May is my BTS' month since I put a lot of my energy to learn about BTS. I learned about their journey and struggle. It made me realize that BTS was not your typical boy band. Most of the songs from BTS has helped me to love myself more.

Well, It would be a lie if I didn't say that my heart shattered because he was gone from my chat. I still can cry if I remember everything that happened in the past few years. Then, when I learned BTS' discography, I could get a lot of new perspectives. Those perspectives at the end of the day helped me to be more grateful and rise up from a ton of negative thoughts that I had.

I was very happy this month because I finally can divert my attention from him to BTS. I no longer felt that sad. I tried to be more positive and leave my thought about him behind.

Ps. I made it to join 30 days BTS' song challenge on my Telegram. You could see how much happy I am, right?

June

It's BTS FESTA's month. Because I have drowned in the BTS' rabbit hole, I was fully aware of every event that BTS held. This was my first FESTA experience and I am really excited. The final event for BTS Festa was Bang Bang Con the Live that broadcasted through Weverse. I and my fake big sis decided to buy the ticket and were very excited because this was the first online concert held by BTS and Big Hit. 

When I had ready to watch the concert, I realized that there is a notification on my hidden chat. I almost cursed that time because I never expect that he will come back after two months has passed. At that time, I realized that I still want him even though I knew that I am just another person in his life. 

Aside from that, I found that TXT--BTS' little brother is also interesting. So, I decided to follow their journey too.

July

My working life is still the same. So, there is not much happening. 

Then, my fangirling life has gone deeper. I decided to explore the Bangtan Universe because it is so damn interesting. It is very exciting to learn about the connection between the story, music video, and all in BU. It's full of mystery and theory. Finally, I tried to read the notes from the album and the book. It's fascinating to me.

Another highlight from this month was finally Indihome open their restrictions for Netflix. Finally, I can watch Netflix from the original apps and not use VPN. Because of that, I started binge-watching K-drama, starting from Sky Castle until Itaewon Class. Then, I tried to start my journey to learn Korean. Well, at least I can read and write hangul for now.

August

Life is full of Dynamite! 

It's BTS' comeback month. Dynamite was finally released and has topped most of the charts in the world. It's BTS' first number 1 on Billboard Hot 100. I am very proud of them, tho. Then, I took an interest to play BTS World. At first, I didn't understand how to play the game, but after trying it here and there, finally, I know how to manage that game. 

Since I want to make a little contribution to BTS' achievement, I included Dynamite to my playlist and play it all day. It was exciting to wait for the Billboard Hot 100 announcement and get that ARMY experience.

September

How do I start to talk about this month? 

August and September are In the Soop's time. I enjoy watching these BTS' new shows. I can push all of my worries aside and enjoy the show.

Then, even though there are a lot of ups and down in my delusional life, I still can manage to send my birthday wishes to him. In some way, I felt like a fool for still being nice to him after a lot of things that happened. But, maybe, I just can't help.

One thing that I never expect could happen is when he literally buy me GoFood. Well, to be honest, I thought he would decline and didn't bother about my wish. So, I was very surprised because he really did that. Do I happy? Of course, I am. 

After that, I don't know how it starts... but our conversation is going to be deeper and deeper since then.

October

Did I enjoy my working life? Of course, I am. It's very flexible and not that much stress. One day, my former supervisor told me about a new vacancy at one of the NGOs. That moment, I just give it a try. I never set any expectations and was very surprised that I got the interview invitation after passing the written test. I tried my best and just can hope for the result.

My fangirling life still happening. Map of the Soul ON:E concert is one of my agendas in October. It was my first experience at BTS' official concert. Even though it was an online concert, it was still amazing.

About my delusional life, finally, I know the truth from him. Sadly, even though I've been very blunt, he still didn't get my point.

November

The highlight from this month was, I finally got a new job, that actually that I didn't plan at all. Therefore, I decided to come back home. Well, this was my first trip since the outbreak. I was anxious back then but fortunately, nothing happened.  

I spent 10 days at home happily. I met my friend, cooked with my sister, and etc. I feel very recharged after all of my up and down this year.

Well, this month, I and he didn't really talk that much--because he was very busy like usual and never look me as his priority. But, I never know that at the end of November, I will have a very serious talk with him.

It only started with my opinion regarding smoking. Then, it leads up to so many things. I felt very moved because finally, he is open to me--literally open. Some of his confessions are not really surprising for me because I have expected that. But, it would be a lie if some of them didn't make me a little bit shocked. 

December

I am starting my new job. So many things that I should learn and it makes me excited. In some way, I know that I am still lacking, but my supervisor and all of my colleagues at the office really help me out. I hope, I can give a positive contribution when I am taking this role.

About him again, it felt so surreal that he is there almost every day in December. I still didn't know about how he looked at me since our serious conversation in November. But, I've been very blunt to him and he noticed it. I don't know what the future will hold for me and him. I couldn't set my expectations that high because I know it will hurt so much if I did that. Therefore, I just want to embrace this moment with him until it last.

Anyway, I don't know what's happening, but please, be safe and healthy. I just can hope there is no something bad happened to you. I would pray for you, tho. Well, you haven't promised me anything, but let's meet next year... and please keep another promise that you've ever said.

Well, that's a wrap for 2020. I don't know what will happen in 2021, but I would like to do my best for my job and life. I just wanna be happier as much as I can.

Goodbye, 2020! Thanks for making me learn a lot throughout this year.

Sincerely

Ra

2020.12.31 12.53 PM

Malam Terakhir

"Matanya menangis, tapi tidak ada air matinya. Itu pasti karena dia sudah kehabisan air mata, karena dia sudah lelah menangis." -- Rain.

Sumber: Goodreads.com

Judul: Malam Terakhir
Penulis: Leila S. Chudori
Tahun terbit: Februari 2018 untuk cetakan kelima
Tebal buku: 119 halaman
Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Jujur, saya tidak ingat kapan terakhir kali saya membaca cerita serius seperti Leila S. Chudori. Bukannya saya sudah kehilangan rasa akan kisah-kisah yang demikian. Akan tetapi, saya memang sedang tidak ingin membaca kisah yang terlalu gelap dan menampar realitas.

Sebetulnya, saya mendapatkan buku ini dari supervisor saya sebelumnya. Sebagai orang-orang yang memiliki jiwa sosial tinggi, tentu kisah-kisah seperti Malam Terakhir terasa begitu cocok untuk dibagikan. Maka dari itu, ketika saya mendapat buku ini, saya merasa excited. Kapan lagi saya bisa membaca kisah lain dari Leila S. Chudori.

Saya dan kisah realitas sosial

Pada dasarnya, kisah-kisah yang diceritakan oleh Leila S. Chudori menjadi salah satu jenis tulisan yang saya sukai. Saya tahu bahwa banyak sekali realitas sosial yang tak seindah khayalan. Banyak hal-hal tabu yang sengaja tidak dibicarakan dan menjadi stigma di masyarakat. Maka dari itu, saya menyukai gaya bercrita dari Leila.

Malam Terakhir merupakan kumpulan cerpen pertama dari Leila yang saya baca. Kalau saya boleh jujur, saya lebih suka cerita panjang dari Leila. Pulang dan Laut Bercerita menjadi kisah-kisah favorit saya. Akan tetapi, saya akui apa yang dikatakan oleh Leila itu benar. Menuliskan cerita pendek tentu akan jauh lebih sulit untuk dilakukan. Terdapat aturan-aturan tak kasat mata yang hadir. Dengan demikian, menuliskan sejumlah cerita pendek dan kemudian membukukannya pasti tidaklah mudah.

Kisah-kisah yang diceritakan oleh Leila ini kalau boleh saya bilang merupakan jenis kisah yang frontal dan vokal, apalagi mengenai berbagai realitas sosial yang ada. Mulai dari identitas gender, eksplorasi diri, agama, seksualitas, hingga keberadaan dari minoritas.

Kisah favorit saya

Sumber: wallpaperflare, disunting oleh saya.

Salah satu kisah favorit saya adalah Air Suci Sita. Saya mengagumi cara Leila yang menganologikan kisah dari tokoh-tokohnya dengan kisah Rama, Shinta, dan Rahwana secara tersirat. Menurut saya, banyak hal yang ditekankan dalam kisah itu yang nyata adanya. Terkadang, berbagai kisah yang ada, bahkan dalam dunia wewayangan, masih banyak upaya mendiskreditkan keberadaan perempuan. Maka dari itu, kisah ini menjadi begitu menarik.

Lalu, ada juga kisah Untuk Bapak yang cukup menyentuh. Hubungan antara anak dan orang tua yang begitu syahdu selalu bisa membuat saya merasa hangat. Terakhir, Sepasang Mata Mentapa Rain juga menunjukkan bahwa di balik kepolosan anak-anak, tersimpan agensi yang begitu kuat. Anak-anak dengan caranya sendiri mampu menunjukkan bahwa mereka mengerti dan peduli akan sekitar.

Oh, iya, rasanya tidak adil apabila saya tidak menyinggung kisah terakhir di buku ini, yakni Malam Terakhir. Jujur, pertama kali membaca kisah tersebut, saya langsung teringat pada Laut Bercerita. Iya, kisah tersebut lagi-lagi menyentil kondisi ketika mahasiswa direpresi oleh para penguasa. Suatu hubungan yang jauh dari simetris dan begitu pilu. Ahh, membaca Laut Bercerita dan Malam Terakhir menimbulkan kesan yang sama bagi saya. Betapa tak adilnya orang-orang yang selalu menutup mereka.

Kesimpulan

Saya memang tak pandai membuat resensi sebuah kumpulan cerpen. Akan tetapi, kisah yang disajikan oleh Leila ini seolah menjadi peingat bahwa realitas sosial di sekitar kita tidaklah semuanya bahagia. Bagaimana kita bersikap dan memahami apa yang terjadi di sekitar kita menjadi sangat penting untuk memanusiakan manusia.

3.5 dari 5 bintang untuk Rain yang begitu polos dan murni.

Sincerely,

Ra

Source: Netflix.com

Title: Enola Holmes

Genre: Adventure, Crime, Drama

Director: Harry Bradbeer

Writer: Nancy Springer (novel), Jack Thorne (screenplay)

Stars: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Helena Bonham Carter, Louis Partridge, etc.

Date of released: Septermber 23rd, 2020

Duration: 150 minutes

When Enola Holmes-Sherlock's teen sister-discovers her mother missing, she sets off to find her, becoming a super-sleuth in her own right as she outwits her famous brother and unravels a dangerous conspiracy around a mysterious young Lord.

One day, Ceilla told me about this movie. As a fans of Sherlock Holmes and also many detective stories, I am very excited. Therefore, when this movie has released on Netflix, I tried to watch it immediately. Well, I could say that I like most of it.

The missing mother

Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) woke up to find her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) has disappeared. She has no idea where her mother gone or why. Technically, Enola still a minor, therefore, both of his brother come to "educate" her being a young lady. Well, the one who enforce that idea is only Mycroft (Sam Claflin). At the other hand, Sherlock (Henry Cavill) seems to understand more about Enola's personality.

Mycroft wish Enola could enter a woman education, but she refuses and decided to run away. In the middle of it, she finally met Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), a viscount who decided to run away from his house. Since then, Enola's adventure became more complicated and not only about her missing mother.

Thumbs up for Enola

Source: variety.com

Well, it's been a while for me to watch detective movie. So, Enola has given me a refreshing looks and story. To be honest, I love how Millie Bobby Brown taking her role as Enola. As you can see, somehow her character at Stranger Things is very strong. But, in this movie, we can see Millie as Enola, not as Eleven. 

Then, I should admit that the story of this movie maybe not that much complicated like Sherlock series. I believe it is caused by the target audience for this movie is a teenager. After all, I still can enjoy this movie.

Another things that I have to underline about this movie is, don't try to compare Sherlock's original character here because you won't find it. In my opinion, for Sherlockian, maybe Sherlock's character here is very different. Therefore, maybe some people won't satisfy with his character. This statement also applied for Mycroft too.

Other than that, I have to praise Helena Bonham Carter too here. As long as I remember, Helena is a great actress. She can take so many different roles and she killed it. Even though in this movie her appearance not that really much, I can see how's her character is very fresh from another character that she ever played.

Conclusion

After watching this movie, I realized that the story is based on novel. So, I assumed there will be more sequel for this movie and I couldn't wait for it. I wonder what's exactly Enola do after deciding to live by herself in London and how she can deal with his two older brother. It would be very interesting.

8 out of 10 for Elona's wittiness.

P.s. I just know that Millie is also the produce of this movie. So, claps for her for being such a talented young woman.

Regards,

Ra

Source: imdb

Title: Extracurricular

Original title: Human 101, Human Class

Genre: School, crime, psychological, life

Director: Kim Jin Min

Screenwriter: Jin Han Sae

Number of episodes: 10

Stars: Kim Dong Hee, Park Joo Hyun, Jung Da Bin, Nam Yoon Su

Available on Netflix

A model high school student who's steeped in a world of serious crime finds his double life upended when a classmate takes an interest in his secret.

***

To be honest, I had interest tow watch this series because of Kim Dong Hee. After I watched his performance at SKY Castle and Itaewon Class, I think I should appreciate more about his work. Therefore, I decided to watch Extracurricular.

In my opinion, Extracurricular is the darkest teen k-drama that I've ever watched. I never thought that the crime that involved the main character is about underage prostitution.

The untold story of the model student

Oh Jisoo (Kim Dong-Hee) is a model high school student. He is very smart and obedient. Unfortunately, he knows that he need to do something to pay his university tuition fee. Long story short, Jisoo is involved in such a shady business that you will never think of.

One day, Jisoo's classmate, Bae Gyuri (Park Joo-Hyun) took interest on his secret. At the end, Jisoo reluctanly agree to let Gyuri involved in his business. At the other, there is Minhee (Jung Da-Bin) and his boyfriend, Kwak Kitae (Nam Yoon Su) that to some extent will have a relations with Jisoo and Gyuri.

Sensitive topic

From the first episode, I was a little bit shocked because of the topic of this drama is very dark. I am aware that some student could involved in some crime to pay their tuition fee. But, I never thought about the underage prostitution. I believe that this topic is very sensitive, especially at Korea itself. So, it's very interesting to know more about this drama.

Well, to be fair, it's not only about the underage prostitution that has been unveiled through this drama. You can also see about the bullying issue at school. Even though we always try to against bullying, in the real world, those act still happening.

Source: Netflix, edited by me

There is no lovable character

I have to admit that I got difficulties to finishing this drama. Even though it only has 10 episodes, I think the plot is very slow. Then, I think this is the director's intention to give a grey character. I mean, there is no lovable character here. 

Even though I stan for Geun-soo at Itaewon Class, I couldn't do the same toward Jisoo. Jisoo's character is not rely relatable for me. In some way, I understand his struggle, but the way he hide himself and the duality of his persona made me got a lot of headache. 

Then, my opinion another character is just the same. There is no a literally angel or evil character here. I definitely would like to emphasize that every characters in this series is very punch-able.

Am I waiting for the second season?

From the first time I noticed that this drama only has ten episodes, I believe that there will be a second season. Why I think like that? Because, there are so many things that left unanswered.

Moreover, the final scene is very odd. I believe there will be a continuation about Jisoo and Gyuri's life after the final incident.

To be honest, even though this drama made me got a lot of headache, it still give a lot of refreshing theme. I believe because this drama is a Netflix Original Series, they are more brave to tackle a lot of sensitive issues.

Well, 7.5 for the Jisoo and Gyuri's partnership.

Sincerely,

Ra