jiàn​shù​bù​jiàn​lín

missing the big picture

Senses

见树不见林/ 見樹不見林 jiàn​shù​bù​jiàn​lín missing the big picture

to see the trees but not the forest; to fail to see the larger picture due to focusing on small details

References

variant 只见树木,不见森林/只見樹木,不見森林 见树不见林/見樹不見林