Our Brainstorming Services

The best time to get a coach on board? At the beginning of your writing process or once you have decided on your topic and tried your hand at an outline.

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When you are ready to begin a new project (like writing a book), the first question is probably, “Where do I start?” Perhaps people have been telling you for years that you should write a book. Maybe you have an idea in mind and you are ready to turn it into a manuscript. If you have a box full of notes or a head full of ideas, you’ve come to the right place. I have been there and made my dream reality—publishing my own book. Our team can help you from start to finish, from concept to creation to editing, presentation, and publication. Having worked successfully through a number of books, we are ready to share our knowledge with you and help you along the way.

The challenge of creating viable products does not lie in finding ideas, but in finding the right ideas and discarding the ideas that do not work. In that regard, the most complex situation within a project is at the very beginning when you have very little knowledge about what your clients or readers want from you.

This is the time for brainstorming. Brainstorming is more than just throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. It also addresses questions like:

  • What are your goals with your product? (learning the trade, exploring the market, money, career, creativity, social causes, portfolio, ...)
  • How do you want to sell your product? (references, recommendations, shop, giveaway, marketing, ...)
  • Can you postpone sharing half of your ideas for a second version of your product?
  • How much are you willing to invest?
  • What are the conditions to discard an idea and when do you count an idea as failed?
  • What do you do if your idea is successful?
  • What and whose problem or need are you addressing?
  • Knowing your target audience, could you divide your product into smaller steps and first address a particular niche?
  • By working your way backward from the feeling you want to evoke in your client, can you eliminate some of your ideas?
  • How can you prevent getting lost in new ideas or details?
  • How can you prioritize ideas?
  • How can you test the viability of ideas?
  • How can you sort and formulate your ideas to work on them iteratively?
  • How can you summarize your proposed book into a short paragraph?
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➤ Schedule a Free Trial Session

Supported Languages: 
German, English

- The trial session (by default via video conference, but we also offer text chat on request) is free and non-binding.
- You can ask specific questions about our coaching and how we'll work together.
- During the meeting, we will discuss what steps are required to reach your goal.
- If you do not have a goal yet, that is fine, too. We can discuss various topics; you select what path to pursue.

- If you are happy with the session, you can book individual coaching sessions.
- If applicable, we will send you an estimate with a summary of the planned work outside the coaching sessions.

Clemens Lode

Clemens Lode

Hello! My name is Clemens and I am based in Düsseldorf, Germany. I’m an author of books on philosophy, science, and project management, and coach people to publish their books and improve their approach to leadership.

I like visiting the gym, learning to sing, observing animals, and creating videos on science and philosophy. I enjoy learning from nature and love the idea of optimizing systems.

In my youth, I was an active chess player reaching the national championship in Germany, and an active pen&paper player leading groups of adventurers on mental journeys. These activities align with my calm approach to moderating meetings, leading meetups, and focusing on details. My personality type in socionics is IEE/ENFp.

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Related Books and Services

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Our Agile Coaching Services

Hire us to teach you to work iteratively and collaboratively

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The purpose of agile coaching is to cut wasteful loops in your processes. First, cut out the middleman, then connect people and build trust with your clients.

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A woman having a one-on-one video conference.

Our Developmental Editing Services

A thorough critique of your book before it's published

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With LODE, put your best book forward. Our developmental edit provides you with an in-depth assessment and overhaul of your entire manuscript.

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Our Public Speaking Coaching Services

Become a confident, skillful public speaker

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We can help you to write a powerful, cohesive speech, and to create a unique "prompt" that you can use to begin any speech for the rest of your career.

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Researcher using a tablet with a diagram of a DNA spirale in the front (source: Shutterstock).

Our Research and Writing Services

Need Research Services of Qualified German/US/UK Scientists?

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We can help with researching topics for teaching or writing articles. Click here for more information how we can help you with your project or interest.

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Our Process Modeling Services

Turn your business into a diagram

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Through interviews and using lean and agile principles, we visualize and optimize your existing work processes to reduce waste and increase productivity.

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Our Management Coaching Services

Make your Meetings Matter

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Effective meetings begin with an announcement and end on time. Learn techniques to achieve the goal of your meeting and effectively gather feedback.

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Our Presentation Creation Services

Optimize your presentation to deliver your points

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Our experienced editors will review your presentation and coach you to work out the central message. Let us help you streamline your presentation.

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Related Blog Posts

Idle Hands are the Manager’s Workshop
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
.

Why You Should not Worry About Idle Time at Work

Using examples from the real time strategy game StarCraft, this article explains why idling resources might even speed up your production process.

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Evolutionary Improvements
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
.

The Advantage of Small Improvement Increments

When introducing agile methods, small improvements might lead to better results than a revolution. The advantage is the constant feedback you get at each step.

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Scrum and Jira: A Love-Hate Relationship
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
.

Steps to Bring Your Agile Project Back on Track

Usually, the Scrum process is employed by using little stickers, and moving them around on a physical board. Jira makes that easier, but it comes at a cost.

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To the Frontlines
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
.

How are Agile Methods comparable to Managing a Frontline?

Kanban accepts a non-optimal situation: teams are not 100 percent dedicated to a project, and project work is done in phases outside the core team.

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Automate Your Definition of Done
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
.

Reducing Repetitive Work in JIRA

With this Plugin, you can automate your definition of done (DoD) by creating templates and having them added to each new task in JIRA automatically.

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Scouting the Market
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
.

The Similarities of "Scouting" in Games and Marketing

Knowing how to deal with a "fog of war" in real time strategy games like StarCraft can help understanding and teaching the principles of marketing.

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Team Communication
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
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How Soft Skills Translate from Computer Games to Business

Team-building exercises involving computer games can help participants to train soft-skills like dealing with frustration as well as communication skills.

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In Scrum, Ownership Matters
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
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From “Command and Control” to “Innovative Agile Management"

This article discusses how “ownership” describes how a knowledge worker needs to be part of the whole process and not just be a specialist in a department.

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Keep Some Energy in Reserve
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
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How a 100% Workload Slows You Down

Taking no breaks is a local optimization which might ultimately slow down your project. Instead, try to distribute workload in the team or try XP instead.

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A Closer Look at the Numbers
By
Clemens Lode
, posted on
March 11, 2023
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Why Agile is not about Speed

A better indicator how well your project goes along is how much value you produce for your customers throughout the time of your project, not just at the end.

Read more...

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