The UK has a well-documented decades-long 20% labour productivity gap with the US, Germany and France. With Brexit potentially creating extra challenges in overcoming this competitive disadvantage, the UK could fall even further behind. But if you are an optimist it could also be a moment for the UK to take a giant leap forward as it has done in the past when confronted with no other choice. Britain has been very good at doing this recently but it could be even better and Brexit could galvanise a new era of even more productive collaboration between public institutions and private business. There are many sectors of the UK economy that have bright sparks of world class performance but McKinsey Global Institute Productivity research shows very clearly they are held back by vexing bottlenecks.

The UK has a well-documented decades-long 20% labour productivity gap with the US, Germany and France. With Brexit potentially creating extra challenges in overcoming this competitive disadvantage, the UK could fall even further behind. But if you are an optimist it could also be a moment for the UK to take a giant leap forward as it has done in the past when confronted with no other choice. Britain has been very good at doing this recently but it could be even better and Brexit could galvanise a new era of even more productive collaboration between public institutions and private business. There are many sectors of the UK economy that have bright sparks of world class performance but McKinsey Global Institute Productivity research shows very clearly they are held back by vexing bottlenecks.

Southeast Asia is a region that's vast developing. It has evolved from an agricultural society to one of the fastest growing regions in the world within the span of a century. One of the main drivers of such growth was due to Southeast Asia's position as a low-manufacturing hub. This combined with cheap exports, provided the region with the necessary income to develop. However, in the past two decades, the world has seen the meteoric rise of China's manufacturing industry.

Open any broadsheet newspaper and you will find at least one reference to the fact that we are in a productivity crisis. Organisations are not keeping up with what is possible and the gap is worsening. So what is causing this gap? Will the growing capabilities in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning help or hinder and how can we as the leaders of organisations help to close it? There are many contributing factors, but for me one stands out; the organisational hierarchy.

The future has already arrived in a small factory in Worcester, according to the man hired by Theresa May to put Britain at the forefront of the next industrial revolution. Juergen Maier, the chief executive of Siemens UK, believes new technologies including robotics, artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, can deliver greater productivity and create more highly paid jobs. But failing to crack the next revolution will come at a high price: falling living standards. The work being done in Worcester, and places like it, will be crucial if Britain is to be successful outside the EU, Maier says. The starting gun has been fired in this global race and Britain needs to get ahead.