Yoshida in front of the statue of peace, 1951; with board members, 1955; in his office, 1960
In 1951 Dentsu’s fourth president Hideo Yoshida wrote 10 Spartan Rules to inspire his employees. They’re on the wall of every Dentsu building around the world.
1. Create work for yourself; don’t wait for work to be assigned to you.
2. Take an active role in all your endeavours, not a passive one.
3. Seek out large and complex jobs. Trivial tasks debase you.
4. Welcome difficult assignments. Choose them. Progress lies in accomplishing difficult work.
5. Once you begin a task, complete it. Never give up.
6. Lead your fellow workers. Be an example for them to follow.
7. Set goals for yourself to ensure a constant sense of purpose. This will give you perseverance and hope for the future.
8. Move with confidence. Confidence gives your work force, focus and substance.
9. Find new solutions. This is the way we ensure satisfactory service.
10. When conflict is necessary don’t shy away from it or be afraid. Conflict is the mother of progress and the source of aggressive enterprise. If you fear conflict, you will become timid and servile.
We’ve written some new Spartan Rules for the agency. These are partly in homage to the originals, partly to help us learn from our Japanese colleagues, but mostly to encourage radical ambition amongst ourselves.
1. The future is not advertising
2. Haitsu – the art of hybrid communications – is the future
3. We are media activists seeking to broker, create and facilitate Haitsu
4. We are an alien hybrid-child in London; we embrace uniqueness and the unexpected
5. We practise Haitsu in order to make Future Magic
6. Future Magic is creative invention for competitive advantage
7. Future Magic impacts and enriches culture and the understanding of culture
8. We prize craft and craftsmanship (Monozukuri)
9. There is no substitute for discovering for yourself (Genchi Genbutsu)
10. We hold a no-nationality framework of the world, the workplace, and our work (Mukokuseki)