Thinkers50 Radar 2022: Ori Brafman

Ori Brafman is a New York Times bestselling author of multiple books, including The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations (2008), which argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional “spiders” with a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary “starfish” that rely on the power of peer relationships. His most recent book, Radical Inclusion: What the Post–9/11 World Should Have Taught Us About Leadership (2018), was a collaboration with the 18th Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, and offers principles for adapting to the changing nature of leadership and power in organizations.

Ori moved from Israel to Texas in his youth and experienced a significant cultural and geographical change, which has given him a unique capacity to look at the world from many different perspectives. Ori’s expertise in both military and corporate organizations is unique. He is both a defense leadership strategist and business culture visionary. Ori has advised Fortune 500 companies and all branches of the U.S. military, as well as the Obama White House and NATO. Ori is also a Distinguished Teaching Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Ori Brafman speaks at the National Defense University about the changing nature of organizations, and why “starfish” organizations, which rely on the power of peer relationships and knowledge from the edge of the organization, are succeeding where more traditional “spider” organizations may struggle.

VIEW ORI’S RADAR BIO