Feeling Stuck? How to Unblock Your Organisation and Supercharge Performance
Ever feel like your organisation is brilliant at creating big plans but somehow gets stuck in the execution? You’re not alone.
In this Get Amplified episode, “Resolving Organisational Constipation”, we sit down with the brilliant Dr. Mark Baker, visiting fellow at MK:U Cranfield University, who has a rich background in engineering, finance, and risk management, to talk about what’s really clogging up performance. And how to fix it.
Spoiler alert: it’s not your strategy. It’s how your teams are working (or not working) together.
Listen now
What’s Organisational Constipation?
Mark calls it like it is. Too many processes. Too little clarity. Decisions delayed. Bottlenecks everywhere. This “organisational constipation” slows everything down, especially when internal functions (like finance, ops, or legal) get disconnected from what the front line needs.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Mark shares insights from leading major change initiatives, including at Unilever and on the London 2012 Speedo project, showing how well-aligned internal operations can actually accelerate sales and performance, not hold them back.
TCUP: Think Clearly Under Pressure
Drawing inspiration from the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Mark unpacks England’s T-C-U-P strategy: Think Clearly Under Pressure. It’s not just a catchy acronym, it’s a playbook for building high-performing teams that can handle complexity, uncertainty, and speed.
Help your team to thrive in crunch moments by:
✅ Building capability
✅ Embedding muscle memory
✅ Practicing before it’s critical
Strategic Leadership Means Stepping Back
If you’re a leader stuck in day-to-day operations, here’s your wake-up call:
You can’t steer the ship if you’re down in the engine room.
Mark encourages leaders to:
- Delegate with trust
- Step back to think strategically
- Focus on long-term impact
And if you’re wondering why things still get stuck even when the vision is clear? You might be facing… organisational constipation. Time to try a pre-mortem: anticipate what could go wrong before you get moving. It’s a powerful tool for clarity.
Aligning Teams with Vision (and AI)
Even the best strategy falls flat if teams aren’t aligned. Mark highlights how AI and data tools can help you measure team alignment in real time, especially when making big decisions like senior hires.
Continuous Learning Is Non-Negotiable
From Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits to Amy Edmondson’s work on teaming, Mark reminds us that the best leaders are always learning. The moment you stop evolving is the moment your organisation starts to fall behind.
Don’t Miss This Episode
If you’re looking to:
- Unblock internal bottlenecks
- Boost team resilience
- Align better around strategy
- Lead with more clarity
. . . then this episode is for you. Listen now.
Discover More Get Amplified Episodes
Check out all the Get Amplified episodes (organised by theme) here.
If you enjoyed this conversation, we think you’ll like this episode with best-selling author, Geoffrey Moore: A Chicken Can Only Lay One Egg At a Time – Geoffrey Moore, Tech Industry Legend
