The Story Behind Infinite Beta

My mother and grandparents lived in Peru in the 1950s. Around the house was Peruvian furniture, art, and figurines. They often spoke in Spanish around the house and I loved the different rhythm of it.

This exposure sparked something in me.

Not a desire to travel, although I eventually did.

Not even a desire to learn, although I have always loved learning.

What they sparked was curiosity.

The realization that the world was gigantic, much bigger than my little slice of it and that there were countless ways to see the world, understand it, and experience it.

That curiosity has followed me throughout my life. It led me to serve in the Peace Corps in Kenya. I spent two years learning the flying trapeze. I've recently started learning shorthand so I can read my grandmother's diary from 1934.

Over time, this constant state of curiosity eventually became the foundation of Infinite Beta Consulting.

Why Infinite Beta?

I launched Infinite Beta in 2017 as a way to pursue independent consulting alongside my full-time work. In 2025, I formalized it as a consulting practice focused on helping organizations create meaningful and lasting change.

The name reflects a belief that has shaped both my personal and professional life.

There is no final version.

Organizations evolve. Communities evolve. People evolve.

We learn, adapt, refine, and improve. Not because perfection is possible, but because growth is.

Infinite Beta is a reflection of that mindset.

A commitment to curiosity.

A commitment to learning.

And a commitment to approaching challenges with the humility to recognize that there is always more to understand.

Systems Thinking: How Does This Work?

Systems thinking begins with the recognition that outcomes rarely happen in isolation.

Even basic car repairs reinforced the same lesson. What appears to be a single problem is often connected to a larger system.

The problem shows up as a warning light on the dash, unusual noise underneath your feet, or your car slowly losing power to the lights and radio as you luckily coast into your driveway before it dies completely. (It was the starter, in case you’re curious.)

Each of these problems is likely caused, not by one part of the car, but by the interaction of several parts, preventive maintenance, driving habits, weather conditions, road quality, and countless other factors. The visible symptom is often only one piece of a much larger story.

Organizations work much the same way.

With one client, an electric utility was struggling to deal with an unnecessarily high number of linemen injuries. Their initial response looked at training, hiring standards, equipment, scheduling, and overtime practices.

All of those factors matter.

But fixing each one individually still failed to reduce injuries if the underlying culture rewards toughness over safety.

The organization had already purchased hydraulic lifts and material-handling equipment designed to reduce physical strain. Yet some employees continued to do the work manually because the informal culture valued toughness and self-reliance.

The equipment wasn't the problem. The system surrounding its use was.

Systems thinking helps us step back and see the larger picture.

Behavioral Science: Why Do People Behave the Way They Do?

Understanding a system is important, but systems don’t act. People do.

Behavioral science helps explain why people make the choices they make, why some changes gain traction while others stall, and why good intentions do not always produce the results we expect.

Traveling, living abroad, and meeting people from different backgrounds taught me an important lesson: people do not experience the same reality in the same way. Culture, experiences, values, incentives, and social norms all shape how we interpret the world around us. What seems obvious to one person may be completely invisible to another.

For example, putting out more communications that remind people to use the new time entry software doesn’t usually get us to 100% adoption rates. We have to share the why, include people in implementation, and understand what’s getting in people’s way to address them.

Understanding people's motivations often helps change happen more effectively.

Change Management: How Do We Move Forward?

Insight alone is not enough.

Even when organizations understand their challenges and recognize the behaviors contributing to them, meaningful change still requires action.

Change management focuses on helping people move from where they are today to where they want to be tomorrow.

For two years I took flying trapeze classes, although I never reached the level of “flying through the air with the greatest of ease.” On the flying trapeze, understanding the mechanics of a movement is very different from successfully performing it. Progress came through practice, feedback, adjustment, and repetition.

Organizational change works much the same way. Insight matters, but sustained change happens through action and adaptation.

Because change is not an event.

It is a process, minus the safety net.

Our Approach

Infinite Beta approaches consulting by asking the same questions:

How does this work?
Why do people behave the way they do?
What would it take to create meaningful change?

The answers provide a more complete way of understanding the complex challenges organizations face and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Because the most important problems rarely fit neatly into a single category. They emerge at the intersection of people, systems, and change.

Before jumping to solutions, ask:

What elements of the system are producing this result?
How are people currently experiencing the system?
What needs to change for a different outcome?