The social division of labour (DoL) has been renowned as a key driver of the economic success of human societies dating back to ancient philosophers such as Plato (in The Republic , ca 380 BCE), Xenophon (in Cyropaedia , ca 370 BCE) and Aristotle (in Politics , ca 350 BCE, and Nicomachean Ethics , ca 340 BCE). Over time, this concept evolved into a cornerstone of political economic thought, most prominently expressed in Smith (in The Wealth of Nations , 1776). In his magnum opus, Adam Smith posited that DoL has caused a greater increase in production than any other factor in human history. There is little doubt that DoL immensely increases productive output, both in humans and in other organisms, but it is less clear how it comes about, how it is organized and what the biological roots are of this human ‘turbo enhancer’. We address these questions here using results from studies of a wide range of organisms and various modelling approaches. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Division of labour as key driver of social evolution’.