“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” — Gustave Flaubert. I love this quote from Flaubert. It makes me think of the small, repetitive movements of a farmer moving along a row of earth, planting seed after seed after seed, orderly and regular. The farmer knows that this calm and mundane routine will coax wild roots to descend and twisting tendrils to wind their way skyward.

All of the work we do together—in blog posts, trainings, coaching sessions, key notes—has the same message: prepare, become fluent, then play.

In the workplace, this means…Read on.

In my last post, I made the case for more you, more people, more human interaction, and fewer slides and less text. Today I add, CAMERAS ON!

We all have reasons that we keep the camera off during meetings:

• I’m in my pjs (robe, undies).

• I’m in my unfinished basement (attic, dorm room).

• My kids (dog, cat, bird) could come in at any moment.

But we all know the real reasons:

• I’m multitasking.

• I’m on screen all day and need a break.

• I’m in the finals of a Clash of Clans tourney.

So really, why meet at all? Why not have a conference call? A nap? Because, when we do meet virtual-face-to-virtual-face, we get a lot more done, we get a sense of our team and how they’re doing, we have an interpersonal dopamine bump, and we are able to be more creative, productive, and innovative.

Use the One-Third Rule: Read on…