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How to fold an origami cat: Lexus takumi challenge (2020)
- cout 5y agoThe date on this says April 2. Is it possible that the timezone where it was published it was April 1 at the time of publication?
- ascar 5y agoNot likely. The timestamp got updated to April 2 2020 for some reason, but the article is actually from 2015 as evident by a comment on the article page and the publication date of the YouTube video on April 24 2015. Also your point would imply that the timestamp adjusts to the readers timezone, which it doesn't otherwise I would see April 1st but it also shows 2nd for me.
- bcherny 5y agoDoes this marketing piece for Lexus really belong on HN?
- tpoindex 5y agoThis explains a lot. I have a 2021 Lexus, and there are a few questionable design choices. Forefront is the infotainment system interface - way too complicated, prone to error, way too distracting. (You navigate the system with a touchpad on the console, while glancing over at the screen.) A better test would be to unfold a cat origami, and figure out a less complicated, durable design from it.
- anw 5y agoHa! Have to laugh at one sentence in particular > candidates are assessed in a number of ways, but one is via a decidedly non-digital method – the Japanese art of paper folding, origami. As fingers are anatomical digits, folding using a non-digital method made me imagine people trying to fold paper using their elbows — and non-dominant elbow at that.
- version_five 5y agoHaha that's actually really interesting- I feel like I've seen other examples like that, where a words meaning changes to the point where it's original meaning is novel, but I can't think of any off hand. Other than the silicon valley "there's also that movie 'Armageddon'"
- LukeShu 5y agoI can't imagine using the word "delete" except in association with computers.
- ummonk 5y agoThe return key is a good example that only makes sense with a typewriter. Also “press” applies to media when they don’t really do any pressing of prints.
- dan-robertson 5y agoManual means related to the hands. So manual labour is working with one’s hands or a manual transmission is operated with one’s hand. Also manuals are the keyboards on an organ where you put your hands (but don’t you pull out stops with your hands…) However it is also easy to think of manual as being the opposite of automatic—something could be manually operated or a computer system might have manual overrides.
- dylan604 5y agoWas a transmission referred to as manual transmission before automatic transmissions became a thing? I'd tend to think the transmission use of manual was specifically to designate it not being automatic.
- paumartori 5y agoerqwer
- gaborcselle 5y agoHow is this test at all related to the skills required in this job?
- duncan-donuts 5y agoThere’s probably something to be said about doing something quickly with high quality, and also in an unfamiliar way.
- ALittleLight 5y agoI'd guess that if you need 25 years experience at the job first then you've heard of and practiced the origami cat test.
- notreallyserio 5y agoOr designed some pretty nice cars for your portfolio.
- duncan-donuts 5y agoI’d like to see a portfolio of origami cats tbh
- codezero 5y agoI would hope they are clear about what they are looking for when they talk to candidates (Given the time, I doubt they were though!) but I've seen things like this as a way to see how people approach a novel/new problem. Are they excited about giving it a try? Are they meticulous, slow, careful? What kinds of optimizations do they attempt in the process, what questions are they asking along the way? I work in support though, and being able to be resourceful, creative, comfortable with contradiction and complexity, but ultimately you need to reduce issues to something you can communicate to a less technical customer, so an exercise like that, at least if presented clearly to a candidate, can give a really good idea of how they handle new situations they may run into when there isn't anyone there to help them (like their right hand for example). Put more simply, I learn more from how people react to and approach hitting a wall/a problem they've never seen before than testing their ability to follow simple instructions (write algorithm X in language Z).
- motohagiography 5y agoWhat I like about this tradition is that it dignifies work and competence instead of treating it with contempt.
- krisoft 5y agoHow exactly? You work 25 years at the company, you become one of the best at let say paintwork. You know all about the tools, the materials. You care about your craft deeply, people ask your opinion about particularly challenging tasks. You perhaps trained generations of your coworkers. But none of that matters because you can only fold a silly cat in 95s? I wouldn’t feel dignified at all.
- notacoward 5y agoIt's gatekeeping, and no better than any other kind. I wonder how many truly excellent craftspeople they've held back or let go because they couldn't pass a test for a skill unrelated to their actual work. It calls the standing of those who do pass that test into question as well. But some people are into gatekeeping, I guess.
- motohagiography 5y agoArguably, competence itself is the ultimate gatekeeper. One either did the work or didn't, recognizing when someone has done it is valuable, and offering deference to demonstrable expertise is efficient and wise. In most disciplines, there are key things you can't learn until you have the experience to understand them. There is a moral dimension to it as well, since we can't understand what we don't create, and talking about things we don't understand means bullshitting, which is both weak for everyone and ultimately deceptive. If you want to fold the cat, work for 25 years. If you don't want to work for 25 years, don't fold the cat. Someone who folded that cat after 25 years isn't gatekeeping. The 25 years they spent before that is all the moat they need. I don't think anyone who hasn't spent that time gets to criticize it and be taken seriously.
- 5y ago
- a-priori 5y agoAh, here we see the car maker’s version of fizz buzz and whiteboard coding.
- sokoloff 5y agoFizz buzz is at least plausibly closely related to an actual skill you’d need on the job: writing simple code.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- maxk42 5y agoThis reads a lot like "Invert a binary tree on a whiteboard" to me.
- MrFoof 5y agoHey now, let's not give anyone any ideas. Lest we all now have to do that in ninety seconds, with our non-dominant hand.
- J5892 5y agodraw binary tree flip whiteboard upside down
- dan-robertson 5y agoI think you actually need a mirror to invert the tree.
- dylan604 5y agojust use the selfie camera
- gerdesj 5y agoI get where they are coming from but it is daft in my opinion. I own a small UK based company. I also can fold paper and have done so for roughly 40 years now. I'm getting quite good at it but have a way to go. Eric K was my original guide. I prefer my employees to be fairly good at what I employ them for: IT. Paper worrying is a secondary skill that I never ask for. I tend to push for engineering skills like problem solving. I can fold a three masted ship from a square metre of ali foil or a jack in the box jobbie (box folding) - I do know what I'm on about here. The thing is that I don't judge my employees on their paper folding skills. I want technicians.
- vr46 5y agoEric Kenneway! His posthumous Complete Origami remains a favourite. As were his models in Robert Harbin’s books. I personally have just bought a Lexus (old) in the UK and think it’s well put together, and can completely understand the reasoning for pushing their top-most technicians into improving their brain plasticity by making them do things that are decidedly uncomfortable with their non-dominant hand. It’s not about folding paper at all.
- CaliforniaKarl 5y agoThat's fine, but I think the people going through the test described on the page are not working in IT positions, they are working on the factory floor. Also, the test on the page doesn't apply to everyone on the factory floor, only the highest-rated people. I don't think it's fair to take the preconditions from one group of roles, and apply it to another group.
- chefandy 5y agoAgreed. A wise-sounding old-school bit of tradition that just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Even in a job like theirs which requires working with your hands, work samples are a far better measure. Imagine passing over a maniacally obsessive, experienced, and incredibly competent metal finisher because of an otherwise irrelevant cognitive snag? Or a fine motor weakness so subtle that they didn't even realize they had completely compensated for it with their dominant hand for their entire life? Respecting and learning from traditions is really smart. Turning traditions into inflexible business rules... less so.
- sydthrowaway 5y agoTheres a sucker born every minute. That applies to job openings too.
- Cpoll 5y agoMy take: I don't think folding an origami cat in this fashion translates into the dexterity required to be a vehicle artisan. However, it's a very reasonable promotion test for its other qualities: The ability to make a training plan and follow through on it, putting in the time, evaluating your progress and honing your skill. There's also probably an element of "proving that you really want the job."