A few years ago, I sat on the board of a social networking group just coming out of it’s earliest stages of development.  The organization had grown rapidly out of a core group of grassroots supporters that passionately dedicated their time to creating and executing events.  These events established a membership in the tens of thousands just in the founding city alone.

Soon enough, the organization required more and more resources to augment the increasing complexity of operating such a large group.  Though the group was founded on the idea that the events should be about the people instead of the membership, many of the group’s founding members recognized the reality of the situation.  The board members realized that if the organization that facilitated the group was to remain sustainable; they had to put a formal structure in place to facilitate the conservation of capital – both social and financial.

What ensued was a bitter struggle between those in the organization that felt they needed to hold onto their piece of the pie because they “built the group,” and those who realized that they had to give the organization away to a larger audience for the sake of making the group sustainable.

In the end, the group split and a sizable portion of the founding members disengaged from the organization.  Though the group is still in operation today, the people are running are those on the board that stayed.  They keep complaining that they have to keep running the organization because they can’t find anyone to take it over. They are still in control and they wonder why, for them, the group has lost its appeal.

This story has two morals.  The first is from Peter Gloor, Scott Cooper and their book “Coolhunting.” In social networks, they say, you have to give power away in order to gain it.

The second is that organizations, like products, have life cycles. In order to be good stewards, we have to know when to let them move on and to let the next generation take the helm.

To me, this story has been increasingly important as marketers become reliant on corporate storytelling.  It reminds me that, while not all organizations have happy endings, we do have a choice of not becoming the accidental villain.

We are all a part of a larger story and I am increasingly convinced that knowing that is truly 1/2 of success.