The Story Behind This Viral Toyota Hiring Test With Ropes And A 6-Second Time Limit

Toyota is a company that has been quite open about its pride in its manufacturing practices, and for good reason. The Toyota Production System pioneered and popularized a range of lean manufacturing principles that have since been adopted by many companies both within and outside the automotive industry. These companies include, but are not limited to, Ford, John Deere, Nike, and Amazon.

Toyota takes manufacturing seriously, to say the least, and a microcosm of this is highlighted in a viral hand-eye coordination test that prospective plant workers apparently must pass. It involves wrapping a rope around a series of six wall-mounted pegs in the correct order and direction within six seconds. Watching clips of people attempting it, this is definitely one of those challenges that sounds easier than it actually is.

We reached out to Toyota for more information about the "Rope Twist" training challenge, and a spokesperson said it is one of the company's traditional "dojo training tools," and that the example shown in the video appears to be located in its Kentucky experience center.

Toyota demonstrates how they value fast hands

The manufacturer also provided footage of something it calls the "Flip and Place" challenge. It is based on the Minnesota Dexterity Test and is intended to improve muscle memory. Workers and prospective hires must use both hands to flip 10 pairs of small hockey puck-like disks, presumably within a set time limit. The automaker says the average person can do this in 20 seconds, but the average Toyota plant employee can do it in 14.

Both the Rope Twist and Flip and Place challenges are said to "improve dexterity and hand-eye coordination, which are part of Toyota production ergonomics," according to Toyota. "These training techniques prepare team members to work on the factory floor. They have also proven to be a great way to engage experience center visitors and help educate our customers about plant processes. In short, it helps tell the story of how we invest in and train team members."

On the surface, these physical challenges might look a bit unnecessary and silly. Still, if they have helped Toyota build a reputation for getting quality right the first time and producing cars that can go 200,000 miles and beyond, we say keep flipping.