Ep. 036 | Squinting to See Clearly w/ Julie Dirksen

Summary In this week’s episode of the Spark Konnect, Julie Dirksen joins Kassy LaBorie for an engaging deep dive into plein air painting, authorship, and the importance of being able to see what is there instead of letting your mind fill in the blanks. Julie shares some nuanced insights into how she uses artistic strategies in the real world, and how everyone can be an artist. Kassy and Julie discuss how painting and visual artistry goes hand in hand with instructional design, and how you can incorporate it into practices you might not have considered before. You won’t want to miss this one! Julie’s Links: LinkedIn:   / juliedirksen   Website: https://designbetterlearning.com/about/ Kassy’s Links: Website: https://kassylaborie.com/ Instagram:   / kassylaborie   LinkedIn:   / kassylaborie   Other Links: Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie: https://www.amazon.com/Orbiting-Giant... Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Julie Dirksen and Her Artistry 04:01 The Journey of Becoming an Artist 07:06 Understanding Cognitive Bias and Its Implications 09:48 The Role of Systems in Cognitive Bias 12:32 Talent vs. Aptitude in Skill Development 15:34 The Importance of Growth Mindset in Learning 18:35 Exploring Limits of Personal Growth 21:18 Identifying Aptitude in Learning and Development 24:08 The Role of Experience in Recognizing Talent 27:16 The Intersection of Preparation and Opportunity 29:13 Artistic Insights for Learning and Development 31:56 Outro Takeaways Moving from talent to aptitude reframes skill development as a system of growth rather than innate ability Cognitive biases are efficient shortcuts, not flaws, and understanding their function leads to smarter interventions Proficiency emerges when context and opportunity align with effort—luck is preparation meeting chance, not mere chance skill development, talent vs aptitude, painting, learning strategies, growth mindset, cognitive biases, system thinking, instructional design