The human mind is a wonderful thing, capable of the most wonderful thought processes and ideas. Yet the brain is on automatic pilot for most situations. That allows the conscious mind to really focus. The drawback is that some people will use our conscious inattention to sneak one by us, like a fastball pitch to a hitter looking for a change-up. Psychological Influence by Dan Miller is very useful in this regard, because it uses interesting examples to help us be aware of our own tendency to let automatic pilot thinking take over. Most books of applied psychology fall prey to one of two weaknesses: Either they lack scientific content or over-simplify or they present solid information in an academic manner that readers find difficult to absorb and apply. Dan Miller's book stands out brilliantly from these books. Combining wide and deep scientific scholarship with an engaging, lucid, and personal style, this book may be the single best work on the topic at present. The intent of the book is to show how we can understand and defend against pervasive non-rational influences on our decision-making. Of course the same principles could be applied to market products or influence colleagues and rivals either in place of or in addition to genuine reasons. I highly recommend this book to all professionals. It does not matter if you are a manager, sales person, pastor, or non-profit volunteer. The ideas in this book, once applied, will make it easier for you to accomplish your goals.