A philosophical approach to business analysis is to refine based on the big picture.
Clients and stakeholders may get lost in the weeds, but a business analyst with an understanding of the big picture can determine the path out of the forest.
Understanding the business requirements at the highest level creates the big picture. Decisions can then be made pertaining to day-to-day activities that help align them with the business requirements.
Seldom is this a straight line.
Hiking provides a paradigm where the big picture is the destination we are trying to get to. Along the way, there are obstacles such as rivers, mountains, and other obstacles that have to be traversed or gone around or over. You are constantly hiking off-course, but you always have that final destination in mind.
Try to have that big-picture goal orientation in business analysis where you are always trying to find the best path to the business requirements taking the obstacles of day-to-day operations into account.