The expression "the trees do not let us see the forest" is in common use at least in the administrative environment, where it is used very frequently, especially with the intention of highlighting that those who are immersed in a problem are unable to fully observe it. But that's how it is? Let's see.
What is a forest? According to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, a forest is a “place full of trees and bushes”. Therefore when you see the trees you are seeing the forest, literally.
In order to more clearly observe the idea that you want to develop, in the sense that is presented here, you must first replace the elements of the original sentence but keeping the idea it expresses; for example: "the employees do not let us see the company", "the flowers do not let us see the garden", or, "the numbers do not let us look at the figures".
Now, the employees, be they executives, managers, media or base, are the company; the flowers are the ones that make up the garden and without numbers there are no figures. When you observe them, you are facing what they represent, therefore it is impossible for them to prevent you from seeing it.
The above makes us reflect on the much-used phrase, if the trees are the forest, how is it that they prevent us from seeing it? When you see the trees, you see the forest! Therefore, what the sentence exposes does not coincide with what it theoretically wishes to point out.
Although it is true that the idea that is being expressed in the sentence is correct, it is no less true that it is incomplete, and logically, although it seems typical of a scholar, it tries to denote wisdom or experience, it may be that when it is said without Unraveling its content, instead of being clarifying, can be seen as ambiguous and illogical.
The correct expression should be "the trees do not let us see what the whole forest is like."
Interesting.
When the sentence is completed, its content is explicit and direct. It suggests that you have to know what the whole forest is like in order to establish its size and scope. Or, the edges, components, and effects that a problem may have before trying to come up with solutions.
From that perspective, any substitution made to the sentence will maintain a broader and more logical meaning: "the employees do not let us see what the whole company is like" And that's right, some employees offer behaviors typical of their areas, positions and points of view Therefore, a company cannot be judged by the way a few act, efficient or not.
In order to know what the company is like, it would be necessary to observe it fully.
The same goes for markets, customers, trends, problems or opportunities, a few numbers, insights or ideas cannot offer a complete vision of what is studied; It must be deepened, but they per se do not prevent us from seeing what they are, they only show a part of what composes them according to the perspective that the observer has, therefore the broader the perspective, the greater will be their understanding of the field or scenario that you want to study.
It can be said then that, sometimes, the most common phrases and whose meaning seems to be appropriate for certain situations, may contain a different connotation to what is intended to be expressed and therefore instead of demonstrating extensive expertise they offer a complete sample of ignorance or the use of clichés not subjected to analysis or sound criticism.
