Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

Rosabeth M. Kanter

Book | 2006

Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

Abstract

Is success simply a matter of money and talent? Or is there another reason why some people and organizations always land on their feet, while others, equally talented, stumble again and again? There's a fundamental principle at work—confidence—that makes the difference between winning and losing in any competition. Based on investigation of success and failure in companies such as Continental Airlines and Verizon and sports teams such as the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as the arenas of education, health care, and politics, Kanter expores a new theory and pracice of success and provides people in leadership postiions with a prescriptive program for maintaining a winning streak or turning around a downward spiral.

Keywords: Social Psychology;

Format: Print

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Kanter, Rosabeth M. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006. (Paperback edition with new Foreword, Epilogue, and Appendix.)

From 2008-2010 Anand Piramal ran a series of pilots for his digital healthcare startup, Piramal e-Swasthya (PeS) to “democratize healthcare” in rural areas of India. PeS ran into difficulties so Anand Piramal had to decide whether to continue the organization and if so how. In 2010, an unexpected opportunity emerged that could have significant implications for PeS’s organizational structure and future prospects. Anand Piramal now faced several options for PeS. He needed to weigh the pros and cons of each option to make the best decision to fulfill his vision of providing quality healthcare services to “bottom-of-the-pyramid” populations. This case exemplifies the strategic decisions an entrepreneur must make to ensure that a social impact venture can be sustainable and scalable.

In 2010, Anand Piramal acquired the Health Management Research Institute (HMRI), a healthcare venture, and merged it with his original digital healthcare startup Piramal e-Swasthya (PeS), so that PeS became Piramal Swasthya. After acquiring HMRI, Piramal Swasthya scaled across 20 Indian states and became India’s largest private primary healthcare initiative by implementing public-private partnerships with state governments. In 2012, Anand Piramal stepped down as CEO of Piramal Swasthya, leading to organizational change and a healthcare strategy focused on improving maternal health amongst India’s most vulnerable populations. This case shows how an organization can achieve innovation at scale through cross-sector collaboration.

In the middle of a crisis, everything looks like a failure. But it’s possible to come out the other end with a strong company—and often with a plan for growth. Companies with a people-first culture can succeed by paying attention to three things: establishing clear accountability in the leadership ranks; developing a nuts-and-bolts, collaborative plan for getting through the crisis; and putting a separate group in charge of defining the “new normal,” when the worst is over.

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Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

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