66. How Might We Build Smarter? Reimagining the Future of Construction with Monica Bradley

Building Doors with Lauren Karan

In this episode of Building Doors, host Lauren Karan sits down with Monica Bradley, board advisor, impact strategist, and systems thinker, to explore the radical mindset shifts needed to thrive in today’s construction and infrastructure landscape.

With a career that spans continents, industries, and boardrooms, Monica brings unmatched insight into how leaders can adapt, innovate, and build for the future, not just repeat the past. From designing buildings that can float to redefining value beyond the balance sheet, Monica’s stories are as practical as they are powerful.

This episode is for the forward-thinking professional ready to lead with clarity, courage, and curiosity. Whether you’re in construction, infrastructure, leadership or investment, you’ll walk away seeing things differently.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Leadership for a Changing World:

• Why the best leaders aren’t just managing risk, they’re rethinking it.
• The power of asking “How might we?” to unlock bold new ideas.
• What legacy really means and why your work isn’t just about profit.

Construction, Innovation & Systems Thinking

• Why modular, circular, and multi-use design is the future of infrastructure.
• The hidden cost of outdated processes and the mindset shifts that fix them.
• How innovation is already solving challenges like waste, labor shortages, and climate risk.

High-Performance Culture & Inclusion

• What most companies miss when hiring neurodiverse or unconventional talent.
• How boardrooms can embrace challenge, not avoid it, and why it matters.
• What the next generation of professionals really want and how to lead them well.

From Global Strategy to Ground-Level Impact

• What Monica learned advising sovereign wealth funds, Silicon Valley investors, and Middle Eastern Sheikhs.
• The surprising link between better design and better lives.
• Why Brisbane’s biggest opportunity isn’t a building, it’s our mindset.

About Our Guest

Monica Bradley is a powerhouse strategist, speaker, and board advisor known for challenging conventional thinking and shaping sustainable, inclusive ecosystems. She has advised high-growth startups, government, global investors and some of the most influential leaders in business. Whether she’s mentoring women founders or guiding infrastructure boards through transformation, Monica’s mission is clear: create value that lasts, and do it with purpose.

Key Quotes from Monica

• “AI won’t take your job. But if your competitor uses AI better, they will take your customer.”
• “We’re still building what’s safe instead of what’s right for the next 50 years.”
• “The real risk isn’t change, it’s building something that doesn’t belong in the future.”
• “We’ve become addicted to binary thinking. The future is about the power of ‘and’.”
• “Great businesses aren’t built on perfection, they’re built on ambition and shared value.”
• “Your legacy isn’t a title. It’s the impact you create and the mindset you leave behind.”

How You Can Support the Podcast:

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Don’t Miss Out

• Listen to previous episodes here.
• Interested in being a guest or providing feedback? Email us at [email protected].
  
  

Thank you for tuning in! It’s time to stop waiting and start building.