CLEVELAND — Change leadership coach, advisor, and speaker Ryan Ware has introduced Activating Curiosity, a new podcast focused on how architecture, engineering, and construction leaders respond to mounting uncertainty, change fatigue, and growing project complexity.
The program is built on the idea that resistance to change in construction is rarely caused by technology itself, but by how leaders engage people during disruption. Through in-depth conversations with industry professionals, the podcast examines how curiosity-driven behaviors can create clarity, strengthen trust, and improve decision-making when the path forward is unclear.
“Construction leaders are being asked to manage more complexity, faster timelines, and higher expectations than ever before,” said Ware. “When leaders default to control, teams shut down. Activating Curiosity helps leaders slow reactions, ask better questions, and guide people through uncertainty more effectively.”
Episodes feature candid dialogue with construction executives, project managers, coaches, and change agents. Topics range from technology adoption and workforce pressures to safety culture, alternative delivery models, and the human dynamics that determine whether transformation efforts succeed or stall.
Ware emphasized that many initiatives fail not because of flawed strategy, but because organizations struggle with ambiguity and shifting expectations.
“When people don’t understand what’s changing or why, they disengage,” he said. “Curiosity becomes a practical leadership tool, not a ‘soft skill’. Especially in high-accountability environments like construction.”
Understanding the Human Side of Industry Transformation
The podcast arrives as contractors and design firms face rapid shifts in digital tools, prefabrication methods, and workforce demographics. Rather than presenting change as a technical problem to be solved, Ware frames it as a leadership relationship that must be continually managed.
Each episode explores how everyday behaviors—listening, questioning, and reframing assumptions—can determine whether teams feel threatened or empowered by new expectations. Guests share firsthand stories from job sites and boardrooms, illustrating how small leadership adjustments often unlock major improvements in collaboration and performance.
Key Focus Areas Explored in the Podcast
The podcast highlights recurring challenges facing construction leaders today, including:
- How curiosity-driven leadership improves decision-making under uncertainty.
- Why traditional change approaches often increase resistance and fatigue.
- The role of trust and clarity in sustaining momentum on projects.
- Practical ways leaders can model curiosity without sacrificing accountability.
By reframing change as an ongoing human and leadership relationship rather than a one-time initiative, the podcast is designed to help construction leaders recognize their own challenges in the conversations being shared and apply the insights immediately within their teams and organizations.
A Resource for Frontline and Executive Leaders
Activating Curiosity is part of Ware’s broader effort to equip AEC professionals with practical tools for navigating industry disruption, including his Curiosity-Building Experiences® framework. The show is aimed at superintendents, project executives, safety leaders, and owners who influence culture at every level of a project.
Podcast can be found wherever you get your podcasts including Apple, Spotify, YouTube and many other platforms.
About Ryan Ware
Ryan Ware is a change leadership advisor, speaker, and podcast host, and the founder of Connective Consulting Group and Connective Coaching. With experience spanning architecture, construction team leadership, and prefabrication, Ware works with construction and AEC leaders to build stronger relationships with change, improve leadership communication, and help leaders connect the humans to the change.
Originally reported by Connective Consulting Group in Construction Dive.
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