The Unusual Logic Trait Measures Seeing a Problem From Other Viewpoints

The unusual logic trait is one of the four Logic Traits. It measures whether a candidate can look at a problem from enough angles to find the one that makes solving it straightforward.

  • Seeing outside the box, scored as an ability rather than a preference
  • Reported alongside the other Logic Traits
  • Useful wherever problems arrive with no obvious route to an answer
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What Does the Unusual Logic Trait Measure?

The unusual logic trait measures the ability to see outside the box, or to see a problem from other viewpoints, which makes problem solving easier. In short, it scores whether someone lands on the conclusion the evidence supports, rather than one that merely sounds right.

Why unusual logic problems are invisible in interviews

An interview shows you the answer a candidate already holds, never the route they took to reach it. Puzzles rarely come up, and when one does the candidate picks the ground. A score puts every applicant against the same problems instead.

An unusual logic trait assessment card stating that the candidate has an excellent ability to step outside the box and find simple solutions to logic problems.
A detailed logic traits assessment chart highlighting a perfect score of 100 for the unusual logic trait alongside discernment and draw conclusions metrics.

What the Unusual Logic trait helps you evaluate before you hire

  • Will this candidate find the angle that unlocks a problem?
  • Does the role involve problems without an obvious route?
  • Should this seat go to a problem solver or a process follower?
  • Can somebody solve well without being especially creative?
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Most of these problems look simple once the right viewpoint appears. That is the whole point of the trait, and it explains why a candidate who misses the angle can work much harder for the same result.

Why the Unusual Logic Trait Matters in Hiring

Every role runs into problems the process did not anticipate.
What a hiring manager wants to know is who will find a way through one, and that is the question this trait answers.

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The Heaviest of the Four

Of the four Logic Traits, this one matters most, so let it lead when you judge how a candidate solves problems.

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Not a Measure of Creativeness

Being artistic or full of ideas sits outside this trait, which covers finding the angle that makes a problem simple.

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Simple From the Right Angle

A problem often turns simple the moment somebody views it from the right angle, and this trait scores who finds it.

How a low Unusual Logic score shows up on the job

How a low Unusual Logic score shows up on the job

Effort goes up and progress does not. The person works hard along the first route they saw, and never steps back to ask whether another one exists.

  • Problems solved the long way every single time
  • Workarounds built where a simpler answer existed
  • Escalations that a change of framing would have avoided
  • Processes followed past the point of usefulness
  • Repeated attempts at an approach that already failed
  • Obvious shortcuts spotted by everybody else first

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How the Unusual Logic Trait Is Scored

Scores run from 0 to 100 and land in one of six named ranges. The number comes from performance on the problems themselves, so nothing a candidate says about their own problem solving moves it either way.
Read it against the benchmark for the seat rather than against a universal pass mark.

Low (Under 39)

Very poor to poor at seeing outside the box, which makes problem solving harder throughout

Medium (39 - 56)

Borderline to OK at seeing a problem from other viewpoints that make solving it easier.

High (57 - 100)

Good at finding the more useful viewpoint, which becomes very good from 70 points upward.

Unusual Logic is one of the four Logic Traits

Every trait here scores what a candidate can do, not what they say they like.
Each one covers a different step of the same task, so together they describe how a candidate reasons.

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Discernment

Recognizing similar details among dissimilar ones, which is the sorting step. This trait then finds the angle that makes the problem simple.

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Draw Conclusions

Reaching a correct assumption from the facts given, which is one step of the same task. This trait looks for the viewpoint that makes it easy.

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Analytical Intelligence

Broader reasoning ability, scored outside the four Logic Traits. This trait covers reframing, while that one measures analysis in general.

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Mechanical Logic

Natural and learned ability with mechanical problems, and the fourth Logic Trait. The one member of the set that does not measure logic.

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Creativity

Creativeness sits well outside this trait, so read that behavioral trait separately whenever genuinely new ideas matter to the role.

Logic Traits

The category this trait belongs to. Every Logic Trait is scored from multiple choice questions with one correct answer, so these readings measure a demonstrated ability rather than a self description. 

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Best practice: Pair this score with a real problem from the job. A candidate who finds the angle on a work sample confirms what the number suggests, and one who does not gives you the cheapest warning available.

How to Interpret Unusual Logic Results

Six named ranges cover this trait.
Each action below assumes you are holding a report, along with a benchmark for the role being filled.

What to Do Based on Your Unusual Logic Score

Treat this as no demonstrated open problem solving ability, and keep this candidate away from work without a defined route.

Expect the long way round on almost every problem, so plan the supervision and the escalation route before you hire.

Workable where procedures cover most of the situations, and read Discernment to see whether the inputs at least get sorted.

Compare this against your own role benchmark, since a procedural seat and an analytical seat need very different results.

Give this candidate the problems without an obvious route, and check the other Logic Traits for the supporting picture.

Use this as the anchor of the analytical picture, then match the result against what the role genuinely demands day to day.

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Assessment results support your hiring decisions, they do not replace them. Always weigh the unusual logic trait score alongside the full profile and your role benchmarks before you decide.

The Unusual Logic Trait Matters for Every Role You Hire

Because the amount of open ended problem solving a job demands differs sharply between positions, benchmarks define what each score means. Therefore, review results against the benchmark for the specific job.

Relevant for all role types

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Technical and Engineering

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Customer Service Representative

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Service Coordinator

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Administrative Assistant

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Manager

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Executive

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Non-Manager with People Handling Responsibilities

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Unskilled Associate

If any of these situations sound familiar, this assessment is for you

  • Your team works hard on the wrong approach
  • Simple problems consume an entire afternoon
  • Nobody questions the route once it is chosen
  • The same obstacle stops the same person repeatedly

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does the unusual logic trait measure?

It measures the ability to see outside the box, or to see a problem from other viewpoints, which makes problem solving easier. Most of these problems turn simple once somebody finds the right angle.

Why does this trait carry more weight than the others?
Is this the same as being creative?
What score should I look for?
Which other traits should I read alongside it?
Which assessments include the unusual logic trait?

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