Abraham Lincoln famously said that. “Every man is born an original, but sadly, most men die copies.”

The world of UX and design is no exception. Emulation and best-practices are a human phenomenon; the expansion of knowledge and civilization is built on previous knowledge and history. This is different from raw “copy and paste” or unconsciously borrowing ideas from someone else which blind us to other more organic and empowering ideas of the future. Such an approach is rarely successful in real-life design and complex or chaotic contexts – where emergent or novel practice is required. This is especially troubling in a post-COVID19 world, as individuals and organizations quickly move towards socio-economic resurgence and a semblance of control. In these troubled times, it is more tempting to copy “ready-to-use” ideas, in-vogue policies and projects from success stories elsewhere. Blatant copy-paste of policies or projects irrespective of their local contexts and without regard to the contexts in which they are being pasted, is an assured recipe for failure and hopelessness.

We invite you to explore and deconstruct the phenomenon of copy-paste using Casual Layered Analysis and what it implies for the world of design and foresight.

About the Facilitator

Umar Sheraz has applied, taught, and researched Strategic Foresight and Scenario Planning for 12 years. He has designed and facilitated dozens of Foresight and Scenario Planning workshops in Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Iran and Nepal to facilitate making of real-world strategic decisions by corporations, government agencies and universities. His clients in training, consultancy and report-writing roles include the Rockefeller Foundation, International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP), Think Tank Initiative Program, Institute of Alternative Futures, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, Yazd University, Universiti Sans Islam Malaysia, Madrassa Foundation, COMSTECH, Hans Siedel Foundation, GIZ Health Sector Support Program to name a few. His original insights relevant to futures thinking have been published in academic journals, practitioner-focused blogs and newspapers.