NLP is very useful if you want to formalize the language of the mind to use it as concisely and efficiently as possible to achieve a specific and desired goal.
NLP is not about changing (people's) minds, but about understanding the fundamentals of how they work.
NLP is very scientific ... many millions of dollars went and are going into NLP or NLP related research. Neurological network projects are undertaken to try to recreate some of the human mind in the form of a computer. Only the NLP science delivers the core or fundamental building blocks of the "operating system" of the brain.