When I first went through the process that underlies hoozyu (the Birkman Method Questionnaire), it had a fairly dramatic effect on me. I suddenly saw the past twenty years of my life in a whole new light. Not an entirely comfortable moment, but boy, did it make a difference, which continues to this day.

Time and time again over the past 16 years, I have seen something similar with our Birkman clients: the lightbulb goes on, a person suddenly goes quiet or even, on more than one occasion, shouts out loud. How people express it can be very different, but the content is the same: “Ahhhhh! I get it!”

Why this apparently simple little Questionnaire has such power is a whole story in itself. The short version is, that it enables you to tell yourself the things you most needed to hear - without having any idea, that this is what you are doing.

So when we started developing and deploying hoozyu with teens and young adults, I wondered what we would see. After all, teenagers haven’t got the same experience of life and employment that our typical corporate client has. They haven’t, in fact, had the same opportunity to make as many mistakes. What would hoozyu mean to them? Would it mean anything?

I needn’t have worried. I have been more moved by the feedback we hear from some of our hoozyu clients than anything I can remember. Families have been changed. Young people express new hope and optimism. Friendships are restored and strengthened. People express outcomes in terms of life as a whole, not just “what job I should do”. They are getting to grips with the question, “who am I” - which after all, is why we called it hoozyu.

So this week we are going to share some of that feedback.

Keep an eye on our social media accounts over the next few days, as we post some of the comments we’ve received from different hoozyu users!