In the late 1980s, I was a young sports reporter in Kansas City covering the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers game. The 49ers defeated the Chiefs, and they were on their way to a third Super Bowl Championship in seven years. In those days, the 49ers ruled the class of the league.

A few years ago, one of my relatives who used to own a lawn-mowing business was telling me a story about how the crew members were perfectionists about the lawns. “After we’re done, we walk across the street into the adjoining neighbors’ yards, etc., to make sure we’ve done a great job trimming,” he said. Then, I said, “Why walk across the street? Can’t you tell when you’re trimming?” “No, way,” he said. “You can’t tell when you’re on it. It all looks good from that vantage point. You need a different perspective.”