Tell me about a problem that wasn't anyone's job to fix — including yours — that you ended up taking on. Why that one, and what happened?

Unowned problems are where ownership is visible: there's no role script to follow. The "why that one" clause tests judgment too — indiscriminate volunteering is its own signal.

• What were you supposed to be doing instead, and how did you balance it?
• Who did you tell, and when?
• What would have happened if you'd left it alone?

A concrete gap with real consequences, a deliberate choice to take it (including keeping their own commitments visible), and follow-through to an outcome — not just raising a flag and moving on.

Hero narratives with no coordination, picking a pet project and calling it ownership, or resentment that taking it on wasn't rewarded.