Blast Off

Welcome to “ Starfish Circle” - my personal addition to the blogosphere. What is it all about and what does it all mean?  There are two separate stories that inspired the name “ Starfish Circle” -one that is a tale many in the non-profit sector have heard many times and the other hails from a B-school book I stumbled upon. 

First, there is a story about a young person who spent his entire morning throwing back beached starfish into the ocean.  He was stopped by an old man who said, "Why are you wasting your time? There are too many of them, you can't possibly make a difference."  The smart, young boy threw another starfish back into the ocean and replied. "I suppose, but I made a difference to that one." 

It is my hope that this blog will showcase some of Silicon Valley's most innovative non profit organizations and what is happening in the Valley as it pertains to community development, youth development and issues that affect the community I live, work, and raise my children in.  I will highlight the latest technology tools and potential applications for agencies big and small.  I also plan to feature interviews with some of the Valley’s non-profit and community leaders, hoping to share some insight on what it takes to survive and thrive in a local community based organization

The second bit of inspiration came from a book I recently read, The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom.  It is about the unstoppable power of leaderless organizations. – Huh?  In this day and age, when so much is focused on individual leaders; I found this book refreshing as it focuses on how to harness the power of leadership on many levels.  The book describes that if one were to break a spider’s leg or smash its head in (ugh sorry for that image), the animal would die immediately.  The starfish, however, is the only animal that actually replicates itself.  When it is cut in half, the starfish regenerates itself into two new starfish.  Brafman and Beckstrom identify many corporate and social movement examples of both types of organizations from EBay to General Motors.  Its applications in the non profit world are limitless.

I plan to share ideas from the best and brightest on the web and locally.  These tips are yours to make your own. In true Starfish fashion, I hope will be useful to you and help you make a difference in your own communities.  Respond back and let me know what you think and how you applied some of these or tell me that these absolutely did not make sense for the sector.  Change happens in circles, right? Someone has to put out the idea, try it and then readjust with feedback. 

My goal is to make this space somewhere we can try out ideas and make social change together.

Comments

[Kim]

You go girl. So glad to see it up and running.

[Polly]

What an awesome idea! I really admire what you're doing and I hope I can learn and contribute.