# César Rodríguez
> Knowledge bites on design, technology, and creativity.
Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. Use `/llms-full.txt` for consolidated page and post context.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).

## Pages
- [About](https://www.cesarrg.com/about.md) - Hi, I’m César Rodríguez I help leaders innovate by combining design and technology to create impactful digital products. What you will find here: * Articles on design, technology innovation and creativity. Ideas drawn from experience, made practical and easy to apply. * Weekly Retro, a short newsle…
- [Bookshelf](https://www.cesarrg.com/book-shelf.md) - This is a list of books that I've found useful & inspiring and that I constantly recommend to others. You also can check my booklist at Goodreads. On Science & Tech... * How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed * Astrophysics for People in a Hurry * 21 Lessons for the 21st Century…
- [Privacy & disclaimer](https://www.cesarrg.com/privacy-disclaimer.md) - Disclaimer Any views or opinions in this blog are my own and do not represent those of people or organizations that I was/am related to professionally. Content and postings Feel free to share the content posted on this blog. I design most of the images used on posts so, when sharing, remember to gi…
- [Resources](https://www.cesarrg.com/resources.md) - Guides and other resources to empower innovation leaders with practical strategies and creative insights for building impactful digital solutions.
- [Social Project Management](https://www.cesarrg.com/social-project-management.md) - Abstract (2013) The challenges for project management are increasing each day, as a result of social and economical changes. The level of complexity that teams deal today is much higher, and collaboration and sharing networks are now a need. However, communication failures and difficulties in effec…
- [Start here](https://www.cesarrg.com/start-here.md) - Thanks for stopping by! If you're new here, you might be wondering: what will I find in this space? This blog is my open journal - a place to share insights, strategies, and stories from almost two decades of helping companies build products to solve real problems, for real people. I write for prod…
- [Weekly Retro - Archive](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-archive.md) - 'Weekly Retro' is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas, interesting links, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. * Weekly Retro - 02.Aug.2024 - On forms of leverage for professional growth * Weekly Retro - 19.Jul.2024 - On how design taste is about decision-making * Weekly Ret…

## Posts
- [2026 mid-year books](https://www.cesarrg.com/2026-mid-year-books.md) - #285 - Aug.2026 This has become a tradition now. :) My mid-year checkpoint of book reviews! I started sharing this list back in 2021. This year I've been reading more. I noticed how very small habits can compound over time: 15 mins reading time every morning (+ any spare time, which counts as an ex…
- [A (late) Thank You note](https://www.cesarrg.com/a-late-thank-you-note.md) - #284 - Jul.2026 This is a random Thank-You note I want to release into the ether of the web. Thanks, Peter Attia. I've been learning from this person for 13 years. Driving to work today, listening to one of the many episodes of The Drive podcast I've listened to, I realized the amount of knowledge…
- [[Weekly Retro] Callout to all Creatives](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-callout-to-all-creatives.md) - #283 - Jul.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Happy Friday! After being out from posting online for a while but I'm back! :) Here's an idea for the weekend: Creativity is not…
- [[Weekly Retro] They are counting on you](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-they-are-counting-on-you.md) - #282 - Jun.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Happy Friday! Here is a quick idea for the weekend: 1 in 6 people in the world has a significant disability. Life expectancy is…
- [[Weekly Retro] My beliefs on Creativity](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-m.md) - #281 - May.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Happy Friday! Here is a quick idea for the weekend: My beliefs on Creativity 💡: 1. Creativity is innate to humans. All kids are…
- [How I built my AI Chief of Staff](https://www.cesarrg.com/how-i-built-my-ai-chief-of-staff.md) - A 3 agent workflow to automate my daily routine as a manager.
- [[Weekly Retro] The launch is just the start](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-the-launch-is-just-the-start.md) - #280 - May.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here's a quick idea for the weekend: In the new wave of AI products, "done" isn't a moment. Shipping is the startin…
- [[Weekly Retro] Too many layers. Too little judgment.](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-too-many-layers-too-little-judgment.md) - #279 - May.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here's a quick idea for the weekend: More PMs will not fix the bottleneck. Many people are concluding that, as engi…
- [[Weekly Retro] Nothing to amplify](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-nothing-to-amplify.md) - #278 - Apr.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Happy Friday! 💡 Here's a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Claude has been down multiple times in the last weeks..…
- [[Weekly Retro] Words do the locking](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-words-do-the-locking.md) - #277 - Apr.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Happy Friday! 💡 Here's a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: I've watched many teams spend months building an answer…
- [[Weekly Retro] A notebook and a pen](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-a-notebook-and-a-pen.md) - #276 - Mar.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here is a quick idea for the weekend: "If you’re thinking without writing, you only think you’re thinking." One of my…
- [[Weekly Retro] Knowing yourself](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-knowing-yourself.md) - #275 - Mar.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here is a quick idea for the weekend: Today, "wisdom" seems one prompt away. You can ask about almost anything and get…
- [(Deck) How businesses buy tech solutions: crafting great proposals](https://www.cesarrg.com/deck-how-businesses-buy-tech-solutions-crafting-great-proposals.md) - #274 - Mar.2026 A few months ago I wrote about the core principles behind a good value proposition and on how businesses buy tech solutions. The core idea: people don't buy just technology. They buy trust, vision, and a clear path on how to get there. I turned the original long-form post in to a sl…
- [Slow thinking in an accelerated World](https://www.cesarrg.com/slow-thinking-in-a-accelerated-world.md) - #273 - Feb.2026 Back in 2024, I was reflecting on products that were launched undercooked. Unfinished products that optimized for speed of launch at the expense of underdelivering. Software is now being released daily through micro-iterations, accelerated by tools that can produce a working app in…
- [[Weekly Retro] Latent demand design principle](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-latent-demand-design-principle.md) - #272 - Feb.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here's a quick idea before you head-off to the weekend: Latent demand I was so glad to hear this concept in a recent e…
- [[Weekly Retro] A disability tax](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-a-disability-tax.md) - #271 - Feb.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here's a quick idea I've been thinking during the weekend. People with disabilities pay a big tax every single day. It…
- [[Weekly Retro] Controlling dissonance](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-controlling-dissonance.md) - #270 - Jan.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here's a quick idea before you head-off for the weekend: Dissonance in music sounds harsh. Unresolved. It lacks harmon…
- [[Weekly Retro] Climbing the hill of ambiguity](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-climbing-the-hill-of-ambiguity.md) - #269 - Jan.2026 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! This week I stumbled upon a concept again and remembered how much I like it! I've never been a fan of tracking tasks u…
- [2025 book list](https://www.cesarrg.com/2025-book-list.md) - #268 - Jan.2026 Hi there! (and 'Feliz dia de Reyes' for people in Spain) There is a lot to unwrap but keeping it short: I was offline for a while from posting. After writing a lot during 2024, the last 2 months had many changes (including a change in my new role at Amazon). I was not able to put my…
- [[Weekly Retro] Why do we productize?](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-why-do-we-productize.md) - #267 - Nov.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here are some ideas to think about during the weekend. Why do we productize a solution? What does it mean to productiz…
- [[Weekly Retro] Fears and opportunities](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-fears-and-opportunities.md) - #266 - Oct.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Happy Friday! Reporting back after a period away from posting. I’m writing these words from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I spe…
- [[Weekly Retro] Observations on VC, AI Products and Creativity](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-observations-on-vc-ai-products-and-creativity.md) - #265 - Sep.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Happy Friday! Here are a few observations about VC, AI, and creativity that I've been thinking about recently. I'm not a VC expe…
- [[Weekly Retro] Computer Art](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-computer-art.md) - #264 - Aug.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here's a quick idea for the weekend: I encourage you to read this article: The creator and the machine (kudos to Caio…
- [2025 mid-year books](https://www.cesarrg.com/2025-mid-year-books.md) - #263 - Aug.2025 A bit late for a mid-year book review but I didn’t want to skip this simple ritual, as in previous years. I’m writing this post with a vacation vibe. I’m currently taking some days off to recharge. Menorca has been a great host for this! Before we get into the mid-year book checkpoi…
- [[Weekly Retro] Is AI is the best option?](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-is-ai-is-the-best-option.md) - #262 - Aug.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here's a quick idea before you head-off for the weekend: Every week, I see AI solutions for problems that could be sol…
- [[Weekly Retro] PM as bottleneck](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-pm-as-bottleneck.md) - #261 - Aug.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here's a quick idea before you head-off for the weekend: Andrew Ng has a point here: are PMs becoming the bottleneck f…
- [[Weekly Retro] Why trust will define the next generation of AI Products](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-why-trust-will-define-the-next-generation-of-ai-products.md) - #260 - Jul.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! Here's a quick idea before you head-off for the weekend: I think trust will become the most important feature of any A…
- [[Weekly Retro] Start with trust](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-start-w.md) - #259 - Jul.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! How do we build great products in a new world driven by AI and intent-based applications? Starts with trust. Trust is…
- [Flexible north stars](https://www.cesarrg.com/flexible-north-stars.md) - #258 - Jul.2025 Most strategies fail because they ignore balancing short and long-term thinking. They either over-index on quick wins or create detailed plans for an uncertain future. It's planning paradox: should you start from the vision and work backwards or start creating certainty to discover…
- [[Weekly Retro] High agency](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-high-agency.md) - #257 - Jul.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! It's been very busy days (some interesting projects coming!) so I wasn't able to send the last Weekly Retro update, bu…
- [One-time-use apps](https://www.cesarrg.com/one-time-use-apps.md) - #256 - Jun.2025 Call out for builders! Claude just announced an update on artifacts: now you can build working apps leveraging Claude API. This adds to the huge amount of options now available for building stuff. There's never been a time where it has been so easy to augment our creativity! You can…
- [The brave questions](https://www.cesarrg.com/the-brave-questions.md) - #256 - Jun.2025 "Why we should be doing [this] instead of [that]?" Silence in the room. It's hard to hear this type of question. But it's needed. Making good questions is likely to become one of the most important skills in an age of information abundance. Good leaders make good questions. It signa…
- [[Weekly Retro] A future of possibilities](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-a-future-of-possibilities.md) - #255 - Jun.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: In how many ways can you produce variations of a human fac…
- [[Weekly Retro] AI and confirmation bias](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-ai-and-confirmation-bias.md) - #254 - Jun.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Have you noticed how when using, say, ChatGPT or Claude, t…
- [About good writing](https://www.cesarrg.com/about-good-writing.md) - #253 - Jun.2025 Is writing a way to only communicate ideas, or is writing a way to create an idea in the first place? Let's take this even further: is good writing directly related to the quality and clarity of your ideas? Paul Graham's last essay left me thinking about all these questions. I recom…
- [[Weekly Retro] Seeds for ideas](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-seeds-for-ideas.md)
- [A new kind of artist](https://www.cesarrg.com/a-new-kind-of-artist.md) - #254 - May.2025 This has never been so actual: "Thus our task is to make a new kind of artist, a creator capable of understanding every kind of need: not because he is a prodigy, but because he knows how to approach human needs according to a precise method. We wish to make him conscious of his cre…
- [Builders](https://www.cesarrg.com/builders.md) - #253 - May.2025 The future belongs to the builders! Anyone with curiosity and creative judgment can now build solutions with a few clicks. This weekend I experimented with creating AI agents. The experience left me both excited and unsettled. Excited because the possibilities feel endless. Unsettle…
- [[Weekly Retro] Being beginners](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-being-beginners.md) - #252 - May.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea for the weekend: In a world where anyone, with the right tools, can now build what once needed…
- [Humans are needed](https://www.cesarrg.com/humans-are-needed.md) - #251 - May.2025 Humans will still be needed in the future! This is the key finding from the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report. But here's the catch. It reveals something more interesting: the skills that make us most valuable aren't technical. They're deeply human. Here's the reality we…
- [[Weekly Retro] Small and quick steps](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-small-and-quick-steps.md) - #250 - May.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea for the weekend: The traditional way of managing products does not work for great AI-driven pr…
- [Simple vs. Simplistic](https://www.cesarrg.com/simple-vs-simplistic.md) - #249 - May.2025 Simple is not the same as simplistic. Jony Ive put it nicely into words in a recent interview: "People think simplicity is about removing clutter. For me that means that you (only) end up with an uncluttered product." But simplicity is just a manifestation. At its core, simple desig…
- [[Weekly Retro] Plant wisely](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-plant-wisely.md) - #248 - May.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea for the weekend: Today's technology can accelerate the way how we design, build and deliver so…
- [Cost to implement](https://www.cesarrg.com/cost-to-implement.md) - #247 - May.2025 When building becomes cheap, the challenge shifts from "how to do it" (implementation) to "what to do" (creativity) or "should we do it" (ethics). Speed matters in this context. Being first with a good idea often beats being perfect with a great one. The advantage of being first giv…
- [Trust triangle](https://www.cesarrg.com/trust-triangle.md) - #246 - May.2025 Trust is at the core of almost everything we do - including product value propositions. A value proposition is not only a promise about what you are committing to deliver but is a social contract built on trust. If you are selling a new product to a market or pitching a new idea ins…
- [Gut feelings](https://www.cesarrg.com/gut-feelings.md) - #245 - May.2025 Gut feelings are underrated. What we call intuition isn't always random noise. It's your brain connecting thousands of past experiences. I think that many corporate cultures over-index on hard data, ignoring professionals who spot nuances that numbers miss. The inspiration that come…
- [[Weekly Retro] Remove friction](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-remove-friction.md) - #244 - May.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea for the weekend: Innovation is not always about novelty and complexity. Sometimes the greatest…
- [Should we built it?](https://www.cesarrg.com/should-we-built-it.md) - #243 - May.2025 When was the last time you asked this question? As technology evolves, people designing and developing products have a bigger responsibility for how they affect people’s health, privacy, and inclusion. Each decision should balance customer experience with ethical principles. "Should…
- [Our humanity](https://www.cesarrg.com/our-humanity.md) - #242 - May.2025 As AI gets smarter, our best advantage, as humans, isn't technical skills, but our unique way to adapt in a constantly-changing world. The people who will thrive will be open to learning, adjusting their human expertise as technology changes. They will be able to connect dots across…
- [The right prototype](https://www.cesarrg.com/the-right-prototype.md) - #241 - Apr.2025 The earlier you are in the discovery journey, the less effort you should invest in your prototype. I often see teams creating detailed, high-fidelity prototypes to validate concepts that are still taking shape. This slows you down. At the early stage, you're exploring possibilities.…
- [A single experience](https://www.cesarrg.com/a-single-experience.md) - #240 - Apr.2025 We often forget that we build trust with customer at the boundaries of our products. People don't separate your product from the experience that surrounds it. Every touchpoint—awareness, education, onboarding, support—is equally important in terms of customer expectations. You might…
- [Simpler solutions](https://www.cesarrg.com/simpler-solutions.md) - #239 - Apr.2025 Not everything needs AI, just as not every process needs to be automated. Many times, simple ways deliver the same results with less complexity. I like one of the most basic principles for "AI for Good": deeply evaluate the value of AI early in the process. By using it, you will fin…
- [Learning to read](https://www.cesarrg.com/learning-to-read.md) - #238 - Apr.2025 Mario Vargas Llosa said that reading was "the most important thing that has happened to me in life." I think many of us could say the same. Now as a parent watching my daughter learning to decipher her first sentences, I realize how fortunate we all are who had the opportunity to le…
- [[Weekly Retro] The new competitive advantage](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-the-new-competitive-advantage.md) - #237 - Apr.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Adaptability is the new competitive advantage. Well…this w…
- [Where to focus your energy](https://www.cesarrg.com/where-to-focus-your-energy.md) - #236 - Apr.2025 Some of the best leaders have a great intuition to focus on the right things based on 2 factors: 1. Their level of expertise 2. The impact of their involvement There is a great example from Apple's VP Roger Rosner, and how he manages his work. It reminds me that effective leadership…
- [When products think: AI product flywheel](https://www.cesarrg.com/when-products-think-ai-product-flywheel.md) - Customer trust as the foundation of AI products.
- [Privacy is freedom](https://www.cesarrg.com/privacy-is-freedom.md) - #234 - Apr.2025 Today, every action we take in the digital world leaves a digital trace - our clicks, searches, purchases,… Data is now one of the most important currencies in the world. We live in a data economy. At the center of all this is our personal privacy. Privacy by Design has never been s…
- [Design trends for creative leaders](https://www.cesarrg.com/design-trends-for-creative-leaders.md) - #233 - Apr.2025 Source: Creative Boom 1. AI as final output: AI is moving beyond ideation to create production-ready assets, transforming processes and how a team works. 2. Return to physical: As technology accelerates, there is a renewed appreciation for tangible experiences and human connections.…
- [[Weekly Retro] Why before what](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-why-before-what.md) - #232 - Apr.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Curiosity is the seed of creativity. It pushes you to ask…
- [What to automate?](https://www.cesarrg.com/what-to-automate.md) - #231 - Apr.2025 In the race of automation, knowing what to automate is more important than how to automate it. Focus on the right target. Look for the tasks that are: * Outliers: one-off tasks requiring deep thinking. Keep these with humans. * Loops: repetitive, low-value work, tasks that are unbal…
- [An invitation to experiment](https://www.cesarrg.com/an-invitation-to-experiment.md) - #230 - Apr.2025 Tobi Lütke's latest internal memo at Shopify gives a good glance of the dimension of the changes on how technology is transforming the way we design and deliver solutions. It's an invitation to experiment more. An invitation to explore how we can become a 10X version of ourselves. A…
- [Shared context](https://www.cesarrg.com/shared-context.md) - #229 - Apr.2025 One of the biggest challenges in highly complex and ambiguous projects is the lack of a consistent shared context. Some effects of this: * Teams start working without clarity on the real problem they want to solve * People jump into problem-solving mode using wrong assumptions * Tea…
- [Design for possibilities](https://www.cesarrg.com/design-for-possibilities.md) - #228 - Apr.2025 In any service, we don't design the experience itself — we create the stage and conditions for these interactions. The value of a service is experienced in real-time as you deliver it. In these "moments of truth" — as Jan Carlzon called them — context, customer expectations, and you…
- [[Weekly Retro] Ingredients of creativity](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-ingredients-of-creativity.md) - #227 - Apr.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Three ingredients for creativity: * Imagination: combine y…
- [Accountability and collaboration](https://www.cesarrg.com/accountability-and-collaboration.md) - #226 - Apr.2025 I've lost trust in RACI matrices. More often, I see these matrices creating walls instead of collaboration bridges. In plain words, most RACIs define boundaries: "you do this, I do that." Yet, in highly collaborative environments, true ownership isn't about territories. It's about h…
- [When products think: navigating the AI product shift](https://www.cesarrg.com/when-products-think-navigating-the-ai-product-shift.md) - How AI reshapes the product management practice.
- [Unstructured innovation](https://www.cesarrg.com/unstructured-innovation.md) - #224 - Apr.2025 I've seen many teams assume that adopting the trendy methodology will magically create an innovation culture. Then, they get frustrated when it doesn't work as expected. A truth is: methodologies are just tools - trails, not rails. Some of the best innovation cultures grow more unst…
- [The best ideas](https://www.cesarrg.com/the-best-ideas.md) - #223 - Mar.2025 The race to automate everything in business feels right...but often is the wrong race. There is nothing worse than automating processes that shouldn't exist in the first place. It's like building a high-speed train to a destination nobody wants to visit. Filter the noise from the es…
- [[Weekly Retro] Transformation of business processes](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-transformation-of-business-processes.md) - #222 - Mar.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Three questions I've been thinking about: 1. How will mult…
- [The power of a story](https://www.cesarrg.com/the-power-of-a-story.md) - #221 - Mar.2025 Many times, stories have the power to become more relevant than reality. They can create new norms and mold how people behave. Every product should have a strong story behind it. In Chris Do's words: "a product without a story is a commodity." People don't buy just the product - the…
- [Advanced perception mechanisms](https://www.cesarrg.com/advanced-perception-mechanisms.md) - #220 - Mar.2025 Our bodies are in constant experimentation with reality. We start with a prediction and, through our senses, we continuously calibrate our perceptions. Our actions are reactions to reduce our prediction errors. New technology like AI gives businesses this same quality: advanced perc…
- [Critical thinking](https://www.cesarrg.com/critical-thinking.md) - #219 - Mar.2025 In a world saturated with alternative facts, our critical thinking is one of our most important skills for the future. A skill that grounds us in reality. A skill that can't be delegated to AI. Nowadays, searching for truth—in both professional and personal projects—is a complex jou…
- [New UX principles](https://www.cesarrg.com/new-ux-principles.md) - #218 - Mar.2025 UX principles evolution from the traditional way of designing digital products to the new AI-enabled generation: From visibility of content to transparency of decision-making processes. User need to understand why and how those decisions are made From usability feedback to feedback…
- [[Weekly Retro] Innovation and social norms](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-innovation-and-social-norms.md) - #217 - Mar.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Sometimes you need to create new social norms to spread la…
- [Tell their story](https://www.cesarrg.com/tell-their-story.md) - #216 - Mar.2025 A user story is...(yes) a story. It should describe a user's work and problem, not the engineering required to solve it. When creating user stories, context and motivation are much more important elements than describing the solution. Only once the context and motivation is clear, y…
- [How people process an experience?](https://www.cesarrg.com/how-people-process-an-experience.md) - #215 - Mar.2025 Three levels of how people process an experience according to Don Norman: The visceral level. Immediate of the reactions. Unconscious. Driven by the perceptions of the body. Focus on leveraging colors, harmony, and structure. Bringing order to chaos. The behavioral level. Where the…
- [What’s not going to change](https://www.cesarrg.com/whats-not-going-to-change.md) - #214 - Mar.2025 It's hard to predict the future! I tried in the past... I like Jeff Bezos' reasoning that when building a long-term strategy, instead of trying to predict what will change, we often don't reflect enough on what's not going to change. In product strategy, everything seems to be chang…
- [Modern times](https://www.cesarrg.com/modern-times.md) - #213 - Mar.2025 One of the examples that I often use in my talks about innovation and design is inspired on Chaplin's 1936 Modern Times. There is one particular scene that resembles very well what bad design means. Chaplin is a worker at a factory, where they started testing a new machine "designed…
- [[Weekly Retro] Principles for better GenAI product experiences](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-principles-for-better-genai-product-experiences-2.md) - #212 - Mar.2025 Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend. Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Here are simple principles you can use to design better ex…
- [Inside-out or outside-in?](https://www.cesarrg.com/inside-out-or-outside-in.md) - #211 - Mar.2025 Inside-out vs. out-side? Many companies still follow an inside-out approach: * They lock themselves in conference and design rooms * Develop ideas based on assumptions * Launch products hoping for positive feedback * Spend months developing before validating The most successful comp…
- [[Weekly Retro] Time-to-value for platform products](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-time-to-value-for-platform-products.md) - #210 - Feb.2025 Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: One of the biggest challenges for internal platform products is that their value is directly proportional to their scale and the leverage that other business apps get from them. And that takes time. Time-to-value…
- [[Weekly Retro] Metrics are not the goal](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-metrics-are-not-the-goal.md) - #209 - Feb.2025 Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: There is a tendency to over-index on metrics. As if metrics are the end-goal that we look for as an outcome of our products. Goodhart's law is a good reminder: "when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a g…
- [What might continue to be true in 2025?](https://www.cesarrg.com/what-might-continue-to-be-true-in-2025.md) - 2024 Predictions in review and what's coming in 2025.
- [[Weekly Retro] AI as a self-expression tool](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-ai-as-a-self-expression-tool.md) - #207 - Feb.2025 Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: “People are tool-builders with an inherent drive to understand and create, which leads to the world getting better for all of us.” These are Sam Altman's words in his post about three observations on AI. Humans ar…
- [[Weekly Retro] 4 Core Ingredients for a Solid Strategy](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-4-core-ingredients-for-a-solid-strategy-2.md) - #206 - Feb.2025 Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: 4 core ingredients for a solid Strategy (from Seth Godin's "This is Strategy" book): * Understanding Systems - They set the rules of the game. They mold culture and, while you can change them, they are strong driv…
- [[Weekly Retro] The new era of digital labor](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-the-new-era-of-digital-labor.md) - #205 - Jan.2025 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Some people are saying that SaaS is dead. Others are welcoming the new wave of digital labor. Everyone is betting on the AI agent trend. (OpenAI just released his own version). The copilots ("let's do this tog…
- [[Weekly Retro] Savings in time feel like simplicity](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-savings-in-time-feel-like-simplicity.md) - #204 - Jan.2025 Hi there! A bit late this time...couldn't send you the newsletter on last Friday. Take it from the positive side: you will get 2 newsletter this week! 😜 Have a great week ahead! 💡 Here is a quick idea to reflect on: From John Maeda's Laws of Simplicity: When any interaction with p…
- [[Weekly Retro] Start with a journey](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-start-with-a-journey.md) - #203 - Jan.2025 Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea for the weekend: Start with a journey. There are tons of business challenges that you can solve by walking the customer's journey. Simple yet powerful. Adapt it to your context. While you can start with the basics (you can check my template here), y…
- [[Weekly Retro] Can AI create truly original ideas? This study brings answers](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-can-ai-create-truly-original-ideas-this-study-brings-answers.md) - #202 - Jan.2025 Happy Friday and hope you have a great start in 2025! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Can AI accelerate the pace of innovation through truly novel ideas? Aidan Toner-Rodgers' paper brings some light to this tricky question. This is the first type of resea…
- [Is AI making us intellectually lazy?](https://www.cesarrg.com/is-ai-making-us-intellectually-lazy.md) - Risks of outsourcing too much of our thinking to AI and what we should do instead.
- [2024 book list](https://www.cesarrg.com/2024-book-list.md) - #200 - Dec.2024 As in previous years, it’s time to share my Year in Books for 2024. This year, I explored many topics — from books recommended by close friends to titles I found through pure serendipity. I spent time on classics (like Animal Farm and Madame Bovary), explored hotly debated topics of…
- [[Weekly Retro] Are we heading towards the age of average?](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-are-we-heading-towards-the-age-of-average-2.md) - #199 - Dec.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Alex Murrell has a point: distinctiveness has died. Creative fields, from architecture to fashion, are now defined by conventions. In our quest to fit into a globalized world, we mindlessly copy existing patte…
- [[Weekly Retro] Are we losing our critical creativity?](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-are-we-losing-our-critical-creativity-2.md) - #198 - Nov.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Our future needs people who excel in critical creativity. The ability to think critically while finding connecting insights across various domains is becoming more rare. Technology is making us more efficient.…
- [[Weekly Retro] You don't need to solve all the problems](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-you-dont-need-to-solve-all-the-problems.md) - #198 - Nov.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Your product doesn’t need to solve all of your customers' problems. You don't have to meet every single need they have. Sometimes, people think being customer-centric means trying to solve every possible probl…
- [Building a design-led culture: insights and misconceptions](https://www.cesarrg.com/building-a-design-led-culture-insights-and-misconceptions.md) - Common traits of effective design-led companies.
- [[Weekly Retro] Simplicity in AI-driven products](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-simplicity-in-ai-driven-products.md) - #196 - Nov.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Making a product easy to understand is one of the principles of good design. When a product is easy to use and predictable, users feel comfortable with it. This can be a challenge for AI-driven products. The "…
- [[Weekly Retro] Do we really need to automate everything?](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-do-we-really-need-to-automate-everything.md) - #196 - Nov.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Do we really need to automate everything? It's tempting to automate every part of the product or service experience. Sure, human to human interactions might seem inefficient at first. But it is precisely these…
- [[Weekly Retro] Experimenting with new technology](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-experimenting-with-new-technology.md) - #195 - Nov.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Thinking about adopting a new technology? Here’s how to start experimenting effectively: 1. Define Your Hypothesis. What are you trying to learn? Be clear about the value you expect this technology to bring to…
- [[Weekly Retro] Tech adoption speed](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-tech-adoption-speed.md) - #194 - Nov.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Technology is being adopted faster than ever before. These are different products and how long it took to reach 100M monthly users (source: Everys): * Google Translate: 78 months * Uber: 70 months * Telegram:…
- [Navigating emerging technologies: from hype to adoption](https://www.cesarrg.com/navigating-emerging-technologies-from-hype-to-adoption.md) - Adopt new tech through experimentation.
- [[Weekly Retro] Is this tech ready to take off? A simple framework to find out](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-is-this-tech-ready-to-take-off-a-simple-framework-to-find-out-2.md) - #192 - Oct.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Not all emerging techs are ready to scale. Timing is important. But, when to experiment? When is the right moment to invest? I put together this simple framework that can help you read the signals and better u…
- [[Weekly Retro] How to improve your idea generation process?](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-how-to-improve-your-idea-generation-process.md) - #191 - Oct.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: When generating new ideas, aim for both fluency and flexibility. Fluency is about the speed and quantity of ideas you can generate. Flexibility is about how distinct one idea is from another. We often focus on…
- [[Weekly Retro] Stakeholders aren't your customers](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-stakeholders-arent-your-customers.md) - #190 - Oct.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Stakeholders are not your customers. One common mistake in product-led teams is treating end customers and stakeholders as the same. When you start prioritizing based only on stakeholder feedback, you risk los…
- [How to transform conflict into collaboration](https://www.cesarrg.com/transforming-conflicts-into-collaboration.md) - Learn to navigate and solve conflicts across innovation teams.
- [[Weekly Retro] Design isn’t just for designers](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-design-isnt-just-for-designers.md) - #188 - Oct.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: A little design knowledge goes a long way. Design is the bridge that connects product, UX, and engineering. Learn the basics. Design isn't just for designers. Any leader driving innovation should develop a goo…
- [[Weekly Retro] Don’t fall into the innovation traps](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-dont-fall-into-the-innovation-traps-2.md) - #187 - Sep.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Don’t fall into the innovation traps. I’ve felt the pressure to always innovate. But not every problem needs a new solution. Sometimes, a simple and quick fix is the best option. Keep the problem at the center…
- [How businesses buy tech solutions: crafting great proposals](https://www.cesarrg.com/how-businesses-buy-tech-solutions-crafting-great-proposals.md) - Lessons to craft tech proposals that stand out.
- [[Weekly Retro] Making the space for creativity](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-making-the-space-for-creativity.md) - #185 - Sep.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Inspiration comes from the Latin word inspirare, meaning “to breathe life into.” Just as we breathe air, we must breathe in experiences to fuel our creativity. We can get inspired at any moment, but we need to…
- [[Weekly Retro] Scaling up your product: balancing Structure and Design](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-scaling-up-your-product-balancing-structure-and-design.md) - #184 - Sep.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: The secret (and most difficult part) of growing a product is finding the right balance between a solid structure to operate effectively and designing at scale. If you focus only on efficiency, you will likely…
- [From product-market fit to scale-up: how to make the leap to global growth](https://www.cesarrg.com/from-product-market-fit-to-scale-up.md) - Lessons from taking a solution global
- [[Weekly Retro]  Make Universal Design actionable](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-make-universal-design-actionable.md) - #182 - Sep.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Adopting universal design isn’t just about sharing its core principles with your team. You need to make them actionable. * Connect these principles to your processes. * Embed them in your product artifacts. *…
- [Designing for everyone: embracing universal design](https://www.cesarrg.com/designing-for-everyone-universal-design.md) - How to create products everyone can use
- [[Weekly Retro] Redefining Teams: Humans + AI](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-redefining-teams-humans-ai.md) - #180 - Aug.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: We are entering a new era of virtual teams: Humans + AI agents. The leverage a professional can gain from AI-enabled agents is huge. It’s fascinating to consider how quickly we can build multidisciplinary "tea…
- [An innovation culture beyond methodologies](https://www.cesarrg.com/innovation-culture-beyond-methodologies.md) - Innovation needs to become a mindset rather than a step-by-step process.
- [[Weekly Retro] How to take care of early ideas?](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-how-to-take-care-of-early-ideas.md) - #178 - Aug.2024 [merging sequence with general posts] Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Ideas are like seeds. If we don’t care for them, they die. Caring means: * Avoid too many early constraints that prevent them from fully developing their potential. * Turn…
- [Imagination, curiosity, and courage](https://www.cesarrg.com/imagination-curiosity-courage.md) - Creativity isn’t just for artists - it’s for everyone.
- [[Weekly Retro] A revolution](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-a-revolution.md) - #59 - Aug.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: Here are some reflections on the creative revolution in front of us: Anyone curious enough has the power to innovate. Technology and digital products have made delivering value easier than ever before. You can…
- [Creative experimentation](https://www.cesarrg.com/creative-experimentation.md) - #117 - Aug.2024 You can't separate creativity from experimentation. Creative minds don't always start with great ideas. They start from the unknown: will this idea even work? Creative minds iterate. They embrace each cycle as a way of exploring possibilities. They know that, if they're curious enou…
- [[Weekly Retro] Tension and growth](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-tension-and-growth.md) - #58 - Aug.2024 Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea for the weekend: You solve stress by making decisions on the path you want to take. You can stay still - that's what stress creates - or you can move forward. Decisions turn stress into tension, and tension is a positive force for growth. Seth Godin:…
- [Good ideas](https://www.cesarrg.com/good-ideas.md) - #116 - Aug.2024 How do you know you are not discarding good ideas too early? Looking back, I’ve lost many good ideas throughout the way. Most of them too early. I looked at them through the lens of the risks and constraints without exploring their potential. But new ideas are fragile. They need nur…
- [Value propositions](https://www.cesarrg.com/value-propositions.md) - #115 - Aug.2024 Some years ago I worked in a consulting firm designing tech proposals for digital transformation. After crafting 100+ value propositions for a wide range of companies and industries I started to see a pattern. I noticed that at the core of any value proposition, there are people. Pe…
- [[Weekly Retro] Leverage](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-leverage.md) - #57 - Aug.2024 Happy Friday! 💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend: These are the forms of leverage that I have found key to professional growth: * Curiosity for other's knowledge * Effective delegation * Learnings from failures * Effective mechanisms * Building a trustful netw…
- [[Weekly Retro] Design taste and decision making](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-design-taste-and-decision-making.md) - #56 - Jul.2024 Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea for the weekend: Design taste is about decision-making. It is about navigating across a sea of possibilities and taking the courage to make the call. Yes, sometimes you will fail. But it is by exposing yourself to this risk that you develop a good de…
- [The courage to say Thank You](https://www.cesarrg.com/the-courage-to-say-thank-you.md) - #114 - Jul.2024 "Thank you goes a long way" This was the reply from Seth Godin to an email I sent him back in 2015. Yes. I email him to ask for advice. Yes. He made the time to reply to me. I was working on a design challenge connecting people from very different backgrounds to contribute to a set…
- [2024 mid-year books](https://www.cesarrg.com/mid-2024-book-checkpoint.md) - #113 - Jul.2024 It is time for the mid-year checkpoint of the books I have read so far in 2024. Every year I look forward to this review. As I recap each book, I reflect on the learnings, quotes, and takeaways. Once again, this year has been a mix of everything. I continue to explore new genres (no…
- [[Weekly Retro] Productivity](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-productivity.md) - #55 - Jun.2024 Hi there! 💡 Here is a quick idea for the weekend: In a world that tends towards more noise and distractions, choosing where to put your attention becomes one of the most valuable skills. It is not only about saying no but also to be aware of choosing where you can maximize the value…
- [Focal point](https://www.cesarrg.com/focal-point.md) - #112 - Jun.2024 Most visual arts share a common concept that artist use in their masterpieces: a focal point. The focal point is what attracts the eye. Everything orbits around the focal point. It's what creates mystery, wonder, and a sense of cohesion. Think about any great painting or a photograp…

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