The book that changed the world?

How did Toyota come to develop such a unique, high-performing culture that is benchmarked throughout the world? In some ways its collectivist culture seems very Japanese. Yet, other aspects of the culture can be uniquely attributed to Toyota. While many Japanese companies focused on internal excellence with little international influence, Toyota continues to grow as a global powerhouse. There is a culture of politeness in Japan yet Toyota Production System founder Taichi Ohno was anything but polite and political. The sheer will and determination of Toyota’s Chief Engineers to create outstanding products – above and beyond the current best – is legendary (Morgan and Liker, 2006). While other Japanese companies are generally driven from the top down, Toyota finds a balance between top down and bottom up, revering the team members who directly add value to the product. Even the obsession with kaizen, something seemingly common in Japan, is sensational at Toyota. Much of Toyota leaders’ entrepreneurial spirit, sheer determination, unwavering belief in what is possible, and intensity in developing people can be traced back to founder Sakichi Toyoda – who dedicated his life to contributing to society by developing the first fully-automatic loom.Each of the authors has independently written about the influence Samuel Smiles’ book Self-Help (1859) had on Sakichi Toyoda, and by implication on Toyota, and consequently the Lean world (Hines, 2022; Liker, 2020; Powell, 2024). The subject has also been addressed by other commentators such as Magee (2007) and Ballé (2019). This importance has been echoed by public domain documents from Toyota (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2006) and the fact that Sakichi Toyoda’s personal copy was put on display at his birth home 1. However, each report is fleeting and lacking in detail.References to the book are absent from the commentary of notable early histories of Lean which tend to start their accounts in the twentieth century and focus on the technical aspects, particularly the Toyota Production System (Holweg, 2007; Roser, 2016). However, as many have argued, the success of Toyota is in how they respect and develop people and create a focus on a human-centred culture (Magee, 2007; Liker and Hoseus, 2008). These are exactly the topics addressed by Smiles. Indeed, as Smiles notes “the spirit of Self-Help is the genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the true source of national vigour and strength” (Smiles, 18972, pp. 10).We like others have been fascinated by the question of how Toyota’s unique culture came to be. And the book Self-Help seems to be an unappreciated influence that could explain a lot. Was this indeed the book that changed the world?Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) was born in Haddington, Scotland and studied medicine, later becoming a doctor and subsequently a surgeon. Thereafter, he turned to journalism and edited the radical newspaper The Leeds Times which argued for such causes as women’s suffrage, antisocial privilege and parliamentary reform where he endorsed several aspects of the Chartist position (infed.org, 2009). He became more liberal and resigned from the Leeds Times in 1842 and undertook public lectures and writing, with his first significant work being a posthumous biography of his friend George Stephenson, the famous railway engineer (Smiles, 1857).Self-Help was a collection of his lectures that he gave to a self-improvement group of around 100 young working men in Leeds (Petzold, 2009). It is an eclectic mix of wisdom derived from modern, classical and religious texts, as well as a wide range of biographical information from prominent figures and also some people with much more ordinary lives (Wenham, 2015). At this point of time Britain was established as the first industrial economy. However, for the predominantly working-class population life was hard with the hierarchical society had preventing easy climbing of the social ladder. It was a time when the gap between the rich and the poor was very wide. Those few who benefitted from expensive schooling dominated the higher echelons of society when there was no universal compulsory schooling.Self-Help placed 1859 as the year when Britain emerged from the religious interpretation of the world to a secular one (Petzold, 2009). Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” (Darwin, 1859) was published on the same day. Smiles’ Self-Help reflected the spirit of the age and became second only to the Bible in Victorian homes (Butler-Bowden, 2024) and was indeed called the Victorian gospel for inspiration and guidance (Petzold, 2009). It had sold over 250,000 copies in Britain by Smiles death in 1904 and many more globally.The main thesis of the book revolved around the fact that individuals were responsible for their own success; that perseverance was key; and that one should seek self-improvement and practical learning, to achieve their goals. It extols the virtues of good character, self-discipline, personal duty and self-control. Smiles’ focus was not on people becoming rich but more on them realising their potential and contributing to society. His stories of the world’s best inventors emphasised that they were ordinary people who had extraordinary commitment to a vision and perseverance to pursue it tirelessly. He said that even poor people born into the working class can be successful if they work in a disciplined way to improve themselves. If individuals pursue excellence en masse, society can improve, as “national progress is the sum of individual industry, energy, and uprightness” (Smiles, 1897, pp. 11).The book was written at a time when the rigid social and economic stratification of society was starting to loosen and it was less necessary to have money to make money. In particular, it was possible for men (there are few examples of women) to improve their stature through some mechanical invention or by developing a manufacturing technique. He shows many examples from the famous, such as Richard Arkwright, Isaac Newton and George Stephenson as well as numerous unknowns, “even the humblest person, who sets before his fellows an example of industry, sobriety and upright honesty of purpose in life, has a present as well as a future influence upon the well-being of his country” (Smiles, 1897, pp. 12).It has many well-known, if slightly misquoted, references such as: “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. But all play and no work makes him something worse”, “where there is a will there is a way” and “necessity, oftener than facility, has been the mother of invention; and the most prolific school of all has been the school of difficulty” (Smiles, 1897, pp, 158, 111 and 64).The book was not only influential in Britain but also abroad as it was translated into Arabic, Danish, Dutch, French, German, various Indian languages, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Turkish. In the preface to the 1880 edition, Smiles noted that it had been more widely published and read in America than Britain. One of the major influences it had, particularly in America is that it became the catalyst for the self-improvement and wellness movements. The ideas from Self-Help can be seen very clearly, for instance, in the work of Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (Carnegie, 1936), Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” (Hill, 1937) and Steven Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” (Covey, 1989).It also preluded by over a century the positive thinking genre stemming from the work of Carol Dweck (Dweck and Leggett, 1988). In this spirit, Smiles (1987, pp. 183) wrote:Smiles further argued that this positive, productive habit necessarily meant focusing outward and helping others as illustrated by the outward mindset movement typified by the Arbinger Institute (2016); “the duty of helping one’s self in the highest sense involves the helping of one’s neighbours” (Smiles, 1859, pp. 3).Self-Help arguably had its biggest impact in Japan, where it was translated by Masanao Nakamura as Saigoku Rishi Hen – Genmei Jojoren (The Western Countries’ Book of Successful Careers, Smiles, 1871) after visiting Britain. At this time, Britain was the first industrial power and a natural place for other industrialising nations to look to. The book helped form the spirit of “new Japan” as it was published in Japan at a time when the country was emerging from a feudal era dominated by the samurai elite with the arrival of Meiji Restoration in 1868. It became the gospel of this new age (Nakajima, 2007) selling over a million copies in Japan in the 19th century and was more influential on young men than any other book of the day and taken more seriously (Culin, 1919). It struck a chord with the Japanese reformers as they sought a similar social and economic revolution as had happened in Britain.The emphasis was much on the idea of shuyo (self-cultivation) and to grow and become the person you should be, a theme that is still to the fore even today in Japan (Ayako, 2021). In 1872, Self-Help was adopted as a school textbook (Yu, 2026) and became like a bible for Meiji youth.Sakichi Toyoda was one such youth. He was born in Yamaguchi, Shizuoka Province in 1867, the same year as Yoshinobu Tokugawa submitted his resignation as the last shogun (Toyota Global, 2026). His family was poor and his father, Ikichi, was a farmer and carpenter and his mother, Ei, made a living from farming and weaving. He left elementary school in 1877 and never really took upper secondary school seriously, preferring to learn carpentry from his father (Kaneko et al., 2021). He was strongly influenced by his father who was a craftsman with a strong sense of ethics and responsibility (Takehara and Hasegawa, 2020). He was closer to his mother and he had a strong empathy towards the hard work that she and other women in the community did with the inefficient hand looms of the day “working their fingers to the bone” as Sakichi Toyoda said.His father was a devout believer in Nichiren Buddhism which taught its followers to fulfil their duties and all work assigned to them, to strive to return kindness and benefit to those who gave it and serve others. In many ways this was similar to the Calvinist upbringing that Samuel Smiles had with his family’s deep roots in the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Nichiren Buddhism, which is based on the teachings of the Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282), focuses on faith, practice (i.e. actions) and study (i.e. education). Hence, Smiles’ statement of “heaven helps those who help themselves” (Smiles, 1897, pp. 10) struck a chord in Japan and was elevated to the front cover of the Japanese translation. One of the unusual features of the religion was that of his 162 original followers, 47 were women and many of Nichiren’s writings were to women in which he shows a strong empathy for their struggles (Mori, 2003).Sakichi Toyoda was something of a dreamer and prone to exaggeration and the Self-Help book, filled with its stories of people like Richard Arkwright, captured his imagination. He dreamed of building an island in the middle of the Pacific and of damming a river to create hydroelectricity (Kaneko et al., 2021). According to one account (later discredited) he visited a primary school whilst helping his father and heard a class discussing Self-Help. He borrowed the book from the teacher (Takehara and Hasegawa, 2020). What is sure is that the book was highly influential in the formative years with his copy of the Japanese version displayed at his house which is now a museum, see Figure 1 (Toyota Global, 2026) 3.Driven by his own curiosity, and influenced by Self-Help and his Nichiren Buddhist religion, Sakichi started an evening study group every night made up largely of young people where they read (expensive) newspapers and debated the situation in society (Takehara and Hasegawa, 2020; Kaneko et al., 2021). Around the age of 18, his mind turned to invention, creativity, rationality and efficiency. In this he was particularly inspired by the work of James Hargeaves that he read about in Self-Help (Takehara and Hasegawa, 2020). Hargreaves developed a multi-spinning machine (spinning jenny) and patented it. Hargreaves was also from a poor carpenter family. The Patent Monopoly Act came in in Japan in 1885 thus protecting inventions from this mother later helped him his which were in a and him from his father who he was into and his from his he was by the stories in Self-Help and to the of helping society and women like his mother and 2020). He also more from his own life and was inspired by the of Smiles who about people like him of and energy, have from the humblest of to of and influence in (Smiles, 1897, pp. was at if you his home you will see it is up on a from Sakichi a to for the In the you can see of looms which he by hand with the carpenter he from his The spirit and the belief in the value of being to work with own is still of the culture of Toyota today – which the spirit of being yet and the importance of most productive years came after he left a significant of inventions with over an in which could be with one hand and by (Toyota Corporation, 2026). This was before he developed a such that a of could be back and by through you to see throughout Toyota that into place only did his help other people and society but it and time and One can the inspiration he from Smiles (1987, pp. be by industry, by by or medicine, but time is of work that was inspired by was “the from is but the of the from life is one of the of (Smiles, 1897, And Smiles the of in on the way to a of the best is be at and be to in life as by (Smiles, 1897, pp. with many particularly in his inventions a to the of Toyota is not only from but idea is to be as an and through and like a towards Smiles learn wisdom from much more than from what will by what will not and he who never made a never made a (Smiles, 1897, pp. was through that his invention towards his of a He his from looms to the looms to make at Toyota developing a by he that had to be by each Much of the they were came from and the was to the more expensive in in the were prone to which at the of the power looms create a good of Sakichi to than and also did not by the looms in should he developed a mechanical for the to sense when a or such that it could However, this was still not good a the not at first Sakichi developed a that up as when the thus the to the of the or with a et al., 2021). 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