You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper

We had a very interesting lecture about creativity last week, which made me think a lot.

"You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper" (Edward de bono)
Literally, it's right. However, when I adapt the idea in to my work, it's just not alright. The problem is because I don't have the courage to abandon everything I've done thus far and start over again. I'd feel that it would be a complete waste while I don't even know what I'm going to start over will be good. But the funny thing is that whenever I'm forced to start over (like when I'm working on photoshop and accidentally flatten the whole things), it usually turns out to be good. But whenever I try to do a different approach, it seems that someone is saying "You won't be that lucky this time". It seems that everything is going in a circle, or it's like "I want to dig a hole in a different place but I cannot climb out of the hole I've just dug".

I've realized this problem a long time ago, but wasn't sure that what I thought was right. After this lecture, I think that I have more courage to sometimes abandon what I usually do and try a different approach.