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I 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 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 ago
Eric 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 ago
That'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 ago
Agreed. 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.
ascar 5y ago
I totally get where you are coming from and I agree to your general premise of judging and evaluating the skills actually needed for the job. However, your comment seems to miss the point and context of this story. It's about craftsman doing car manufacturing, so a test in dexterity and skill with your hands isn't completely out of line like you make it sound with your IT example. But even more importantly, this isn't about employment, it's about reaching a special status of excellence after at least 25 years of experience and ample time to prepare for this challenge, which doesn't just show skill and dexterity, but also patience and willingness to learn an otherwise useless skill. There is intrinsic value to the last part that often gets overlooked.
- gerdesj 5y ago
  >> but also patience and willingness to learn an otherwise useless skill Origami is certainly not useless! I've been doing it (badly) for 40 years. Some satellites unfurl their solar panels along some very cunningly designed mountain and valley folds. My paper maps get a different set of folds than they are manufactured with and pop open by pulling opposite corners (a sort of pleat). The point I suppose I really failed to make properly is that forcing people (staff) to do a particular discipline rather than say allowing them to choose what it might be is a form of corporate wankery. By that I mean it looks good on paper (hah!) Mass car manufacture does involve some nimble fingers still but not quite in the origami way. The boys and girls at say Toyota near Derby (Derbyshire, UK) need incredible situational awareness for safety and good hand eye co-ordination when doing whatever their cell is doing on the line. Cars like the Ariel Atom and the seriously luxury jobs like Rolls and the super cars which are generally built as individual units from start to finish by one team need all the skills. Even then, the paint shop will be another team and so on. If I ran a car factory, I might be inclined to teach the staff how to work all materials from scratch, not just paper. I'd cover things like taps and dies in metal work - it is quite satisfying getting threads to match. Brazing and simple welding obviously. Sheet handling/bending etc. I'd cover basic concrete (1-2-3 mix for example) and simple reinforcement usage, perhaps some simple admixture usage. Woodworking would be basic joints, how to plan and build say a decking structure. I'd teach life skills. I'd probably throw in how to fold a crane or frog whilst the conc. is curing. However, I own an IT company and the staff get scared when I get the big tools out 8)
jedimastert 5y ago
This story is about crafts-people, who are specifically hired for skill and dexterity with their hands. Maybe it'd be more akin to being up to a certain speed typing.

vr46 5y ago

Eric 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 ago

That'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 ago

Agreed. 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.

ascar 5y ago

I totally get where you are coming from and I agree to your general premise of judging and evaluating the skills actually needed for the job. However, your comment seems to miss the point and context of this story. It's about craftsman doing car manufacturing, so a test in dexterity and skill with your hands isn't completely out of line like you make it sound with your IT example. But even more importantly, this isn't about employment, it's about reaching a special status of excellence after at least 25 years of experience and ample time to prepare for this challenge, which doesn't just show skill and dexterity, but also patience and willingness to learn an otherwise useless skill. There is intrinsic value to the last part that often gets overlooked.

gerdesj 5y ago
>> but also patience and willingness to learn an otherwise useless skill Origami is certainly not useless! I've been doing it (badly) for 40 years. Some satellites unfurl their solar panels along some very cunningly designed mountain and valley folds. My paper maps get a different set of folds than they are manufactured with and pop open by pulling opposite corners (a sort of pleat). The point I suppose I really failed to make properly is that forcing people (staff) to do a particular discipline rather than say allowing them to choose what it might be is a form of corporate wankery. By that I mean it looks good on paper (hah!) Mass car manufacture does involve some nimble fingers still but not quite in the origami way. The boys and girls at say Toyota near Derby (Derbyshire, UK) need incredible situational awareness for safety and good hand eye co-ordination when doing whatever their cell is doing on the line. Cars like the Ariel Atom and the seriously luxury jobs like Rolls and the super cars which are generally built as individual units from start to finish by one team need all the skills. Even then, the paint shop will be another team and so on. If I ran a car factory, I might be inclined to teach the staff how to work all materials from scratch, not just paper. I'd cover things like taps and dies in metal work - it is quite satisfying getting threads to match. Brazing and simple welding obviously. Sheet handling/bending etc. I'd cover basic concrete (1-2-3 mix for example) and simple reinforcement usage, perhaps some simple admixture usage. Woodworking would be basic joints, how to plan and build say a decking structure. I'd teach life skills. I'd probably throw in how to fold a crane or frog whilst the conc. is curing. However, I own an IT company and the staff get scared when I get the big tools out 8)

jedimastert 5y ago

This story is about crafts-people, who are specifically hired for skill and dexterity with their hands. Maybe it'd be more akin to being up to a certain speed typing.