Mindstuck
Mastering the Art of Changing Minds
Advocating for developing mutual understanding over attempting domination, Mindstuck is a business development book that’s replete with tips for being persuasive.
Michael McQueen’s thoughtful business book Mindstuck suggests strategies for shifting opinions and behaviors in a polarized, stubborn world.
Drawing upon academic research, industry expertise, and ancient wisdom, the book’s focus is clear from its introduction: “This book is about changing minds and shifting stubborn opinions.” But the book not only teaches the art of persuasion, it also explores why and how people think. It places special focus on those who are “mindstuck”—stubborn folks whose minds have been made up.
Split into two sections, the book opens by examining how and why people form opinions, covering topics like confirmation bias, groupthink, and the intuitive “Instinctive Mind.” This preliminary work is followed by information on changing the minds of others, supported by the identification of common mindstuck tendencies and those persuasion strategies that can be used to overcome them. The book’s persuasion tools include techniques like finding common ground, harnessing the “herd instinct,” and relying on one’s experience.
However, the book’s first part is so short that it leaves the impression of an introduction; the more persuasive work is done in the book’s second part, which takes up more page space and contains most of the book’s persuasion tools and tips. Further, because each persuasion tool is given its own section of a chapter that contains bite-sized segments labeled with descriptive headers, the work becomes too fragmented at times. Indeed, some segments seem to be separated for the sake of maintaining brevity, with narratives and ideas being split apart when they would be more persuasive if united.
In addition to contemporary scholars and historical thinkers including Aristotle and Plato, the book incorporates popular culture references to Seinfeld, Stephen Colbert, and the 2011 film Contagion that complement its points. Contemporary examples, as of COVID-19 and the climate change crisis, are also used to highlight the importance of debate and persuasion. And in addition to its credible references, the book boasts compelling narratives throughout. Its personal anecdotes are brief and illustrative; many function as thought experiments, as with those that ask what a person who understands the safety and importance of recycled wastewater would do if asked to drink a sample. And the book cites eye-opening experiments as well to reveal the subtle influences that shape people’s opinions, behaviors, and beliefs.
The insightful and evidence-based business book Mindstuck explores how the mind works and proposes techniques for changing stubborn opinions.
Reviewed by
Hannah Pearson
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
