Normafa is a lush green forest in the hilly 12th district of Budapest, my hometown. As my grandfather and uncle were both skiing instructors I’ve been coming here for over 30 years. This is the place where I learned how to ski when I was 3 or 4, this is where I walked my first, second and now third dog, this is where every year when the first snow hits the slopes I have my ritual cottage cheese strudel and it is also here that I run several times a week. I could say that I know this place quite well.

A few weeks ago I came up here to run with some friends. Peter, a serious marathonist set the course that day, 2 rounds on a 4.4 km trail.

This trail — while relatively short — has some cozy slopes and quite a few upward sections that will make you work hard, so it is ideal for endurance training in between longer, more balanced runs. This experience not only gave me some smarts for my own marathon training but it also showed me the importance of something else.

While I come here several times a week and have probably crossed this trail a number of times in the past 30 years, I needed to have it shown to me by someone else to fully appreciate it. Someone who had seen the same layout at the same time as I did, but from a different perspective.

Far too often we find ourselves challenged with issues, be it important personal ones, or equally challenging professional situations, where adopting a different perspective is vital to succeed.

Earlier this year I finished a year-long consulting engagement with a startup developing a mobile product. And though our collaboration ended we are in touch and I get updates on their progress. During a conversation about their product roadmap and experience strategy the other day, some things struck me.

One — having been outside of their daily communication for some time now, I see their team, their competencies and potentials in a different light and I realise that I could have advised them better having kept a continuous outsider’s perspective.

Two — as I heard the latest news about their product roadmap, I also realised that they eventually made certain choices, ones we discussed months ago as ones that should be made then. I realised that to take the same steps we’ve been talking about for months they also needed someone with an outsider’s perspective to eventually make up their minds.

Being objective about an issue — be it a design choice, a strategic move, an investment opportunity — something we are deeply immersed in is nearly impossible. We often tend to seek validation by using someone else to reassure the same position as ours. But what we can do is to consciously seek the advice of people with a clearly different perspective from ours.