An art teacher handed out a portrait of Picasso to students and asked them to copy it. The students looked confused because Picasso’s drawing had two or three people’s faces mixed together.
They didn’t know where to start, so the teacher asked them to put the portrait upside down and copy it. Then the students were able to copy it without any difficulties.
When they put the copy of the portrait upside down, the students were now able to forget their preconceptions about what the picture was, and they could simply focus on the lines and shapes.
When we take one step back and look at a problem from a different angle, we can find solutions we might have missed.