Activating Curiosity™ | Leading Change in the Construction Industry copertina

Activating Curiosity™ | Leading Change in the Construction Industry

Activating Curiosity™ | Leading Change in the Construction Industry

Di: Ryan Ware - AEC Industry Coach in Change Management & Leadership Development
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Activating Curiosity™ helps AEC and construction leaders lead change confidently and transform their organizations through practical leadership strategies, mindsets and innovation insights. Hosted by Ryan Ware, this podcast features conversations that inspire action and build resilient, agile teams.


Hosted by Ryan Ware—AEC coach in change management and leadership development, keynote speaker, and founder of Connective Consulting Group and Connective Coaching—this show dives deep into conversations with innovators and industry shapers around this powerful question:


What’s the most important problem you’re trying to solve—and why?


Each episode uncovers real stories, hidden challenges, and practical tools to help you lead through change, build psychologically safe teams, and respond with agility in an industry transforming faster than ever.

New guest episodes drop twice per month, alongside bonus insights designed to help you activate curiosity in your leadership immediately.


Listen, follow, and subscribe to our YouTube and newsletter— and share episodes with fellow construction leaders navigating change. Let’s build what’s next—together.


If you'd like to support the show or explore partnership opportunities, please visit our Support page to learn more.


⭐ If this podcast resonates with you, leaving a rating or review helps more construction industry leaders discover it.

© 2026 Activating Curiosity™ | Leading Change in the Construction Industry Economia Gestione e leadership Management Successo personale Sviluppo personale
Episodi
  • We Can Design Almost Anything. Why Can’t We Build It?

    We Can Design Almost Anything. Why Can’t We Build It?
    Oct 27 2026
    We can design buildings with extraordinary complexity. But when those designs move toward construction, they're often simplified to fit the materials, methods, and processes we already know how to use.What if robotic 3D printing could change that relationship between design and construction?Platt Boyd, founder and chief innovation architect of Branch Technology, joins Ryan Ware to explore how cellular fabrication, nature-inspired geometry, and new manufacturing methods are challenging the limitations of conventional construction.Platt spent years working in architecture, experiencing the gap between what designers imagined and what conventional construction methods could deliver. Rather than continuing to work within those constraints, he began exploring a different question: What if we could change the way buildings are made?That curiosity led him to study how nature creates strength through geometry, placing material where it's needed rather than relying on mass alone. It also led to the development of Branch Technology's cellular fabrication approach, combining robotic 3D printing with building materials to create lightweight, complex structures that would be difficult to produce using traditional methods.Ryan and Platt explore what happens when construction starts treating buildings more like manufactured products instead of collections of materials assembled piece by piece on a jobsite. They challenge the assumptions behind conventional building methods, the material waste those processes can create, and why prefabrication may open possibilities that go beyond simply making today's processes faster.But Platt's journey also reveals the human and business realities of challenging an established industry. From leaving a career in architecture to facing a serious cash crisis and making difficult decisions about the future of his company, innovation required more than proving the technology could work. It required navigating uncertainty, adapting the business, and finding a path between a compelling idea and a commercially viable solution.The conversation also explores the growing gap between what digital design tools and AI can imagine and what conventional construction methods can physically produce.For an industry accustomed to designing around familiar constraints, that raises a different possibility.What could we build if we stopped assuming today's construction methods define what's possible?In This EpisodeWhy conventional construction methods can limit architectural creativity and design possibilitiesHow nature inspired Platt's exploration of geometry, strength, and material efficiencyHow Branch Technology uses robotic 3D printing and cellular fabricationWhy lightweight geometries can create strength while using less materialWhat prefabrication changes about how buildings are manufactured and assembledHow traditional construction practices contribute to material wasteThe financial risks, difficult decisions, and pivots involved in bringing construction innovation to marketHow new manufacturing methods could expand what architects and engineers can designWhy AI-generated designs are exposing limitations in conventional construction methodsWhat happens when we question the building processes we've accepted as normalChapters00:00 – The Gap Between Design and Construction01:18 – Introducing Platt Boyd and Branch Technology02:55 – From Architecture to 3D Printing07:37 – How Nature Inspired Cellular Fabrication12:30 – Questioning Design and Construction Constraints15:41 – How Geometry Creates Strength19:39 – Bringing a New Construction Method to Market23:18 – Taking the Leap and Challenging Expectations29:17 – Innovation, Adoption, and the Human Side of Change34:25 – Why We Build Buildings Like Cars in a Front Yard39:18 – How Branch Technology's Building Systems Work43:40 – Expanding Architectural Design Freedom46:38 – Making Building Facades Lighter and More Affordable50:37 – Material Waste and Building More Like Nature55:15 – Attracting a New Generation to Construction57:17 – What Success Looks Like for Branch Technology59:25 – Questioning What's Possible1:01:34 – Turning AI-Generated Designs Into Reality1:02:51 – Closing Reflections on CuriosityGuestPlatt Boyd is the founder and chief innovation architect of Branch Technology, a Tennessee-based company developing new approaches to construction through robotic 3D printing and cellular fabrication.With a background in architecture and decades of experience in the construction industry, Platt founded Branch Technology to explore how nature-inspired geometries, additive manufacturing, and conventional building materials could work together to create more efficient and architecturally expressive building systems.His work challenges the traditional relationship between design and construction, exploring how new manufacturing approaches can reduce material use, expand design freedom, and change what's possible to ...
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    1 ora e 11 min
  • Data Center Construction: Beyond Concrete and Steel

    Data Center Construction: Beyond Concrete and Steel
    Oct 22 2026
    Data center construction is accelerating. As the industry focuses on energy use, water consumption, concrete, and steel, another part of the environmental picture deserves attention: the equipment inside these facilities.What changes when we look beyond the building itself to understand the carbon impact of everything that goes into it?Stacy Smedley, Vice President at ERG, joins Ryan Ware to explore embodied carbon in data center construction and how better environmental data can support more informed decisions.Stacy's journey began in architecture, continued through sustainability leadership at Skanska, and led to co-founding Building Transparency and developing the EC3 tool. Her work now extends beyond traditional building materials to the servers, generators, and equipment that power our digital infrastructure.Ryan and Stacy explore why manufacturing emissions matter, how equipment replacement adds another layer to the equation, and why the speed of data center development makes reliable information increasingly important.They also discuss how lessons from construction can inform other industries, why collaboration matters when challenges feel too large, and how asking questions outside our areas of expertise can reveal opportunities we might otherwise overlook.What could change if we brought better information and different perspectives into the decisions we're making today?In This EpisodeWhy data center sustainability goes beyond energy and water useHow embodied carbon applies to equipment and building materialsWhat servers, generators, and equipment add to the carbon pictureHow EC3 made environmental product data more accessibleWhy equipment replacement, reuse, and recycling matterThe challenge of making informed decisions as construction acceleratesHow proven sustainability solutions can be applied at greater scaleWhat construction can learn from other industriesChapters00:00 – The Environmental Impact of Data Center Equipment01:16 – Why Data Center Sustainability Matters Now04:47 – Introducing Stacy's Sustainability Journey06:55 – From Architecture to Embodied Carbon09:32 – Why Better Material Data Was Needed12:25 – How EC3 Changed Access to Environmental Data15:03 – Looking Beyond Concrete and Steel19:18 – Why Data Centers Were Often Overlooked23:34 – The Carbon Impact of Servers and Equipment29:19 – Measuring What Goes Inside a Data Center32:59 – Equipment Replacement, Reuse, and Recycling38:20 – Scaling Proven Sustainability Solutions45:34 – Applying Environmental Data Across Industries52:50 – Closing Reflections on CuriosityGuestStacy Smedley is Vice President at ERG (Eastern Research Group), where she leads the Product Impact Group, developing tools and data systems that help organizations understand and reduce the environmental impacts of products.With more than 20 years of experience in sustainability, architecture, and construction, Stacy co-founded Building Transparency, the nonprofit behind the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3). She previously served as Director of Sustainability at Skanska USA Building.Connect with Stacy and ERGhttps://www.erg.com/Explore Building Transparency and EC3https://buildingtransparency.org/Overcast InnovationsHelping project teams coordinate building systems earlier for more predictable outcomes. New Lyfe AccountingFree Diagnostic ($500 value) for Activating Curiosity Listeners by NLA, to help your financial goals Connective Consulting Group Helping construction leaders simplify change, strengthen trust, and move forward with clarity. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showHave feedback or stories to share? Drop us a note or leave a VM—we’re listening!Follow Ryan at the following: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankware/https://www.linkedin.com/company/connective-consulting-group-llchttps://connectiveconsultinggrp.com/https://connective-coaching.com/https://ryanware.me/Don't miss out on future episodes! Follow & subscribe now to our newsletter and stay informed about the latest trends and insights in the construction industry.If this show helps you, please consider supporting it. Just $3/month helps cover production and keeps the conversations going.⭐ “Love the show? Toss some stars my way, it’s the easiest applause ever.
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    1 ora
  • Everyone Wants Skilled Workers. Who Is Willing to Develop Them?

    Everyone Wants Skilled Workers. Who Is Willing to Develop Them?
    Oct 13 2026
    Construction needs skilled workers. But if every contractor is looking for people who are already trained and experienced, who is developing the people the industry will need next?Jennifer Wilkerson, Vice President of Innovation and Advancement at the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), joins Ryan Ware to explore why training and developing people has become a strategic issue for the construction industry.Jennifer brings a unique perspective to the conversation. Before joining NCCER more than 16 years ago, she spent 13 years teaching high school English and six years helping run the welding and fabrication company she and her husband founded. That combination of education, construction, and workforce development shapes how she thinks about the people entering the industry and the opportunities we create for them.Ryan and Jennifer challenge the “short game” of waiting for experienced, journey-level workers to appear. They explore what changes when contractors take a more active role in developing talent, why training should be viewed as an investment rather than simply an expense, and how credentials and career pathways can help people see a future for themselves in construction.The conversation also challenges assumptions about the skilled trades and the idea that a four-year degree is the primary path to success. From high school programs and apprenticeships to foreman, superintendent, business ownership, and the C-suite, Jennifer makes the case for creating more ways for people to enter, grow, and build meaningful careers in the industry.In this episode:Why waiting for journey-level workers is the “short game”Why training is becoming a strategic business investmentHow contractors can help develop the talent they needWhat credentials and career pathways mean to skilled workersWhy perceptions of the skilled trades still need to changeWhat construction risks when it fails to develop the next generationChapters00:00 Why Construction Needs a Stronger Talent Pipeline01:16 Meet Jennifer Wilkerson03:29 From the Classroom to Construction07:49 How the Four-Year Degree Became the Default Path14:06 What Happens When People Find the Right Path21:40 Why Construction Is Investing More in Training23:39 The Short Game: Waiting for Skilled Workers26:21 Where a Skilled-Trades Career Can Lead30:27 What If You Train Them and They Leave?32:50 Why People Pursue Training and Credentials35:35 Investing in People Changes the Culture39:00 Why Solving the Talent Problem Matters44:19 Construction’s Role in Building the Next Generation48:06 The Cost of Not Developing People55:14 What Success Looks Like59:25 How Construction Leaders Can Get Involved1:02:26 Resources from NCCER1:04:14 Developing the Next GenerationGuestJennifer Wilkerson is the Vice President of Innovation and Advancement at the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). Her background includes teaching high school English for 13 years and serving as the acting business manager for six years at the welding and fabrication company she and her husband founded and owned.Jennifer has been at NCCER for more than 16 years, working across multiple departments and positions. She actively presents on workforce development issues and resources, construction career pathways, industry-education partnerships, women in construction, and recruitment into the construction industry.Connect with Jennifer and NCCERhttps://www.nccer.org/Overcast InnovationsHelping project teams coordinate building systems earlier for more predictable outcomes. New Lyfe AccountingFree Diagnostic ($500 value) for Activating Curiosity Listeners by NLA, to help your financial goals Connective Consulting Group Helping construction leaders simplify change, strengthen trust, and move forward with clarity. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showHave feedback or stories to share? Drop us a note or leave a VM—we’re listening!Follow Ryan at the following: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankware/https://www.linkedin.com/company/connective-consulting-group-llchttps://connectiveconsultinggrp.com/https://connective-coaching.com/https://ryanware.me/Don't miss out on future episodes! Follow & subscribe now to our newsletter and stay informed about the latest trends and insights in the construction industry.If this show helps you, please consider supporting it. Just $3/month helps cover production and keeps the conversations going.⭐ “Love the show? Toss some stars my way, it’s the easiest applause ever.
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    1 ora e 11 min
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