SPG Blog

What do Napster, Alcoholics Anonymous, Wikipedia, the Apaches, Skype, the abolitionist movement in Britain, the Animal Liberation Front, and al Qaeda all have in common? According to Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, authors of The Starfish and the Spider, they are all examples of “starfish” organizations: open, decentralized systems that achieve globe-changing outcomes, all without a front-and-centre call-the-shots leader. A starfish doesn’t have a head. Cut off its leg and it grows another. And sometimes a second starfish grows from the severed limb. This is in stark contrast to the “spider” organization: a coercive, closed, top-down system that dies when its (figurative) head is chopped off.

Brafman and Beckstrom propose that, with the advent of the Internet, starfish organizations have incredible capacity to engage individuals on a planet-wide scale, sometimes at a great cost to large, multinational spider companies. They propose a vision for a new, “hybrid” organization that blends the democratic, decentralized, community-minded spirit of the starfish organization with the structure, control and profitability of a spider.

There once was a company that sold insurance. Turnover in the sales team was upwards of 45%, with many employees leaving prior to reaching maximum proficiency. There was a growing awareness among management that the people being hired for the job weren’t a good fit. And the company wanted to become an employer of choice in their city. (more…)

I have always loved the look of eggplant; when else do we get to eat a purple vegetable? Lured in by its shiny skin and intriguing shape, I used to bring an eggplant home from the market, admire it from afar, and eventually throw it away because I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Then I discovered this recipe, which has become my favourite way to eat eggplant (even though by now I’ve discovered babaghanouge and other eggplant-based recipes!) This is a delicious accompaniment to grilled chicken or seafood.

Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil
1 medium or 2 small organic eggplants, sliced & quartered
1 clove garlic, minced
1 white onion, chopped
8 organic mushrooms, quartered
2 tbsp high quality balsamic vinegar

Preparation time: About 25 minutes

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat until it is quite hot. Olive oil has a lower “flash point”–or temperature at which it will burn—than some other vegetable oils, so you don’t want it to be too hot for long. Add the eggplant. Let the slices cook well on one side and then stir them so they can cook awhile on the other side. When the eggplant is lightly browned on both sides, add the onion and garlic. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the eggplant is soft and fully cooked. Add the vinegar and stir. Add the mushrooms and cover again. Serve when the mushrooms are done.

DISC is a personality profiling system that takes its name from four personality attributes: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance. DISC can be used in development and training, to elevate communication, to raise self-awareness and increase team cohesiveness. (more…)