Brian Solis has written many books on business. His latest, Mindshift, is dedicated to “everyone who believes in something bigger than themselves.” It is an optimistic opening, and clearly an intentional one. A better tomorrow, he argues, starts not with new technology, new processes or new policies, but with a fundamental shift in how we think.

In an era defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, Solis contends that thriving comes down to mindset. Leaders, he suggests, open people’s minds to the art of the possible. They can change the mood from uncertainty to positivity. They help teams loosen the grip of the status quo and overcome the self-imposed limitations and excuses that quietly stall progress.

At its core, Mindshift is about perspective. The way we think determines what we see. And what we see determines what we build.

What makes this book more than a self-help manual is its seriousness about the psychology of resistance. I found it genuinely useful. For those of us working to move organisations from business as usual to being purpose-driven, the greatest barrier is rarely intellectual disagreement. It is psychological friction. Leaders may endorse ambition. They may speak fluently about vision. Yet when change threatens comfort, identity or established incentives, hesitation returns.

A senior leader said to me recently, with admirable candour, “We always find an excuse not to do something.” Solis would recognise the pattern. Much of the book explores precisely this human tendency and the yearning for the familiar even as the landscape shifts beneath us.

Through diagrams and a wide range of anecdotes, from business reinvention to the sinking of the Titanic, and the fable of The Frog in the Well, Solis illustrates how constrained thinking narrows possibility. The frog cannot imagine the world because it has only ever known the well and the sky above it. People (and therefore organisations), behave the same way. They optimise inside their existing boundaries and mistake that for progress.

The contrast between growth and closed mindsets runs throughout the book. Yes, there is repetition and the same ideas are revisited several time in different ways. But the reiteration serves a purpose. Changing mental models requires reinforcement, and Solis approaches the same insight from multiple angles but often in interesting and unexpected ways.

Importantly, Mindshift is not abstract encouragement. It offers practical suggestions for perceiving, organising and evaluating ideas. It emphasises the power of story in reshaping belief. And it underscores a truth many transformation programmes ignore: you can design the best processes and the strongest strategy with the clearest intentions, but if you cannot take your team with you, you will not move at all. Leadership is required.

We are living through a period of profound challenge but also extraordinary opportunity. Acting today, guided by vision, can indeed shape better lives tomorrow. On that, Solis is surely right.

This is an accessible and engaging book — worth reading, and worth reading with a pen in hand. It contains many small gold nuggets that encourage reflection.

Solis helps us understand why people struggle with change. For anyone seeking to open minds to new possibilities, the insights contained in his book are valuable.

Mindshift is available at leading bookstores and online retailers.

If you have a book that you think fits with this series, let me know: neil@neilgaught.com