Loss Aversion Is Why Your Good Idea Fails

Your upgrade is their loss until you prove otherwise. Last week, Rahul wrote about a simple truth: you’re not inheriting a business, you’re inheriting an equilibrium. This week, I want to talk about the most common reason that equilibrium fights back even when your idea is genuinely sensible. Here it is, in plain language: People don’t oppose improvement. They oppose loss disguised as improvement. When you step into a legacy MSME, most things are still manual, informal, relationship-driven....

min read

Loss Aversion Is Why Your Good Idea Fails

Your upgrade is their loss until you prove otherwise. Last week, Rahul wrote about a simple truth: you’re not inheriting a business, you’re inheriting an equilibrium. This week, I want to talk about the most common reason that equilibrium fights back even when your idea is genuinely sensible. Here it is, in plain language: People don’t oppose improvement. They oppose loss disguised as improvement. When you step into a legacy MSME, most things are still manual, informal, relationship-driven. People have built their own ways of keeping work moving. It’s not perfect, but it’s familiar. When you introduce a new system, a new rule, a new “professional way,” you may be adding order but you’re also removing something they were using to survive. And humans react more strongly to removals than additions. Behavioral economists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky called this loss aversion where we feel losses more sharply than we feel gains. That’s why your promised “future benefit” struggles to compete with someone’s immediate fear. Which seat are you stepping into? Inherited seat: People assume you’ll change things quickly to “prove yourself”. They brace for loss even before you speak. Hired seat: People watch for hidden agendas: “New boss means new rules, new blame.” They protect themselves. Promoted seat: Your peers worry the old friendship is now replaced by authority. They fear loss of comfort and access. Different seats, same emotion underneath: don’t take away what keeps me safe. Weighing Scale Think of an old kirana shop. The weighing scale may not be fancy, but it’s trusted. The shopkeeper has used it for years. Customers have seen it. Everyone has settled into that comfort. Now imagine someone walks in and says, “We’re upgrading your weighing scale. This is digital. More accurate. More modern.” Sounds good, right? But what does the shopkeeper hear ? “My customers might think the old scale was wrong.” (loss of trust) “I won’t be able to adjust for small realities.” (loss of flexibility) “If the digital scale shows something different, I’ll be accused.” (loss of safety) “This was my shop. Now someone else is deciding.” (loss of control) So even if the new scale is better, the shopkeeper will resist or accept it politely and quietly return to the old one when nobody is watching. That is exactly what happens in companies. Modernisation Pitch Most leaders pitch change like this: “We’ll become world-class.” “We’ll digitize.” “We’ll improve visibility.” “We’ll build a process-driven culture.” But for the listener, these are not benefits. These are threats, because they translate into losses: Visibility can mean exposure . Process can mean loss of discretion . Digitization can mean loss of speed (at least initially). “Professional” can mean loss of status for the old guard. So the person across the table is not debating your logic. They’re calculating their losses. Practical Way Watch what happens when you propose something simple like daily reporting. You say: “It’s just 10 minutes. Basic discipline.” They hear: “Daily reporting means daily scrutiny.” “If numbers dip, I will be questioned.” “If I show the truth, it will create conflict.” “If I don’t show the truth, I’ll be accused later.” In their mind, the safest response is: nod, agree, delay. Then you label them “resistant.” But they’re not resisting change. They’re resisting loss . Leader’s Job If you want adoption in an MSME, don’t sell modernization as “upgrade”. Sell it as protection . Instead of: “We need an ERP.” Try: “We need to stop money leakage and order confusion.” Instead of: “We need systems.” Try: “We need fewer customer escalations and less rework.” Instead of: “We need transparency.” Try: “We need fewer surprises at month-end.” This is not manipulation. This is translation. You’re speaking the language the system understands: risk, leakage, blame, customer loss, cash loss, fatigue. Field Test: Rewrite your pitch in loss-prevention language Pick one change you’re pushing this month. Now write two versions: Version A (your current pitch): What you normally say: upgrade, modern, efficiency, best practices. Version B (loss prevention pitch): Use this template: What are we losing today? (money, time, customers, reputation, peace) Where is the leakage happening? (handoffs, approvals, rework, vendor delays) What small protection will this change create? (fewer disputes, faster closure, less follow-up) What will not change? (no layoffs, no humiliation, no sudden policing) What proof will we show in 2 weeks? (one metric, one visible win) Now do one more important step: For your top 3 stakeholders, write the one loss they think they will face if your change happens. Don’t argue with it. Just name it. Because once you name the fear, you can design around it. The close If you remember only one thing from this week, remember this: A “good idea” is not enough in a legacy MSME. People need to feel safe adopting it. You don’t have to dilute your standards. You just have to stop selling change like a TED talk and start selling it like a protection plan. Next week, we’ll deal with another invisible force that keeps companies stuck even when they agree with you: the status quo isn’t a baseline. It’s a competitor. (The writer is CEO of PPS Consulting, can be reached at rashmi@ppsconsulting.biz )

Underdogs to Overlords

Rajeev Puri
Jun 26, 2025
3 min read

Kapil Dev’s audacious triumph at Lord’s in 1983 transformed India from an afterthought into the game’s undisputed superpower.

On June 25, 1983, cricket’s global power balance shifted irreversibly. That day, a team not taken seriously by pundits or bookies toppled the indomitable West Indies at Lord’s, lifting the Prudential World Cup for the first time. The men who achieved it - Kapil Dev’s ‘devils’ - did more than just win a trophy. They rewired the sporting psyche of a nation, inspiring a transformation whose reverberations continue to echo through the game’s corridors of power.

As a cricketer and a devoted reader of the game’s literature, the first autobiography I ever read remains etched in memory: Chappelli, by the abrasive and articulate Ian Chappell. Beyond the swagger and flair that mirrored his playing style, what jarred me even as a boy was his thinly veiled disdain for India. Recounting his 1969 tour under Bill Lawry, Chappell mocked the facilities, the infrastructure and the socialist morass he perceived in Indian society. That he was tipped to become captain perhaps explains why he tolerated what he saw as a ‘torture tour’ to a country then considered irrelevant to world cricket.

Fast forward four decades. In 2024, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) boasted a net worth of Rs. 20,686 crore - more than 30 times that of Cricket Australia. The once-dismissed periphery is now the epicentre. The International Cricket Council (ICC), once the fiefdom of the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia), now often appears beholden to India. Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi bluntly declared that the ICC is now “subservient” to Indian interests.

This revolution did not begin at Lord’s, but at Tunbridge Wells a week earlier. On June 18, India - rank outsiders - faced Zimbabwe in a must-win game. Their prior World Cup performances had been forgettable, with just one win (against East Africa) across the 1975 and 1979 editions. The match against Zimbabwe began disastrously: 17 for 5, teetering on the brink of elimination. Kapil Dev then played an innings that rewrote India’s cricketing destiny, hammering an unbeaten 175 off 138 balls, laced with six towering sixes and sixteen authoritative fours. Sunil Gavaskar later called it the greatest one-day innings he had ever seen, with some shots clearing not just the boundary, but the stadium itself.

That innings instilled belief. India defeated a formidable England side in the semi-final, setting up a daunting final against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies, chasing its third consecutive title. The odds were 66 to 1 against India. Batting first, India managed a modest 183. With legends like Vivian Richards, Gordon Greenidge, and Lloyd in their ranks, most expected the West Indies to chase it down in 30 overs.

But Indian bowlers had other plans. Balwinder Sandhu clean-bowled Greenidge with a delivery that jagged in sharply. Haynes followed. Then came the moment that swung the momentum: a sprinting Kapil Dev took a backward catch off Richards that has since become part of cricketing folklore. With Richards gone and Lloyd, Gomes and Bacchus falling cheaply, India sensed blood. Mohinder Amarnath cleaned up the tail with three wickets, as the West Indies were bundled out for 140. India had won by 43 runs. Amarnath, for his all-round heroics, was rightly named man of the match.

Kapil Dev lifting the World Cup has become an enduring image of national pride, an emblem of possibility for a country then grappling with economic and political malaise. The victory sparked a cricketing renaissance.

First, it fuelled self-belief. India now knew it could beat the best. Second, the televised triumph ignited public imagination. Cricket had been popular, but it now became religion. Third, it democratised the sport, expanding its reach beyond elite urban centres to small towns and rural outposts. Fourth, it sowed the seeds for the professionalisation and commercialisation of the game. And finally, it elevated India’s performance. With stars like Dhoni, Gill, and Pant hailing from provincial backgrounds, the bench strength today is unmatched. India consistently ranks among the top two in all formats.

Perhaps the biggest transformation has been economic. Cricket is now a multibillion-dollar industry in India. The Indian Premier League is the most lucrative and widely watched T20 league in the world. Cricketers command endorsement deals rivalling those of Bollywood stars, and broadcasting rights draw fierce global bidding. No cricketing nation dares ignore India’s clout.

On that June afternoon in 1983, Kapil Dev and his men sowed a seed that would grow into an empire. Today, India’s cricketing juggernaut rolls on - but it does so in the long shadow of that audacious coup at Lord’s.

(The author is a political commentator and a global affairs observer. Views personal.)

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