My previous articles have explored the fundamentals of organic choice points. In Article 1, we uncovered how cognitive biases and developmental limitations blind leaders to organic choice points, leaving them reacting to crises they could have foreseen. Article 2 revealed the vital role of “canaries” (those voices often dismissed as disruptive) in detecting weak signals, and how silencing them starves organisations of early warning systems. Then, in Article 3, we confronted the trust-control paradox: how excessive control stifles the psychological safety needed for truth-telling, while intentional trust creates the conditions for choice points to surface before they harden into inevitabilities.
Now, we turn to time itself, the invisible force that determines whether choice points become opportunities or catastrophes. Because even with the right awareness, culture, and trust, timing dictates whether an organisation can act with agency or is left scrambling in damage control.
Drawing from real client situations, let’s dissect three dimensions of time: Chronos, Kairos, and the Window of Opportunity.
Chronos (Clock Time)
This is the relentless 24-hour cycle, the domain of calendars, deadlines, and quarterly reports. It’s linear, measurable, and finite. Leaders are masters of Chronos, adept at task prioritisation and time management. However, a fixation on Chronos can be fatal. When every minute is allocated to ‘urgent’ operational demands, there’s no space to ponder weak signals or strategic shifts. It fosters “temporal discounting” – prioritising immediate, certain (often minor) gains over future, uncertain (but potentially catastrophic) risks. Chronos is a matter of prioritising and organising your tasks to fit whatever you deem important into the time available. The danger lies in what is consistently deemed not important enough for that limited time.
Kairos (The Opportune Moment)
This ancient Greek concept signifies the qualitatively ‘right time’, the moment ripe for insight, decision, or action. It’s not scheduled; it’s recognised. Kairos is about the right thing at the time, there is a before and after… you can’t force being ready to see them, you need to make your own way there. Neuroscience links Kairos to states of openness and insight (Immordino-Yang, 2016), often emerging when the brain isn’t under intense Chronos pressure.
A poignant client example illustrates this: A client of mine told me yesterday that a person in her organisation was experiencing burn out and that she probably wasn’t fit for the role she had envisaged her in. I had told her that 6 months ago, but it couldn’t be heard then, Kairos having operated, she can now see it. The data point (potential burnout) existed in Chronos six months prior, but the affective person and leader’s cognitive/emotional readiness (Kairos) to truly see and accept it only arrived much later, now that the consequences are becoming more evident.
I’d like to clarify a few aspects of this example to inform our progress on choice points.
- I can’t predict the future, so had no idea this would lead to burn out. However, I did help this person assess their strengths and create their development plan so had a good understanding of her skill set and role fit.
- When people struggle, it’s often a poor match between what they can do (skill set, experience) and what they are tasked to do (role definition, circumstance, etc.). People evolve in time and so do roles, so what worked before may not work now. We often tend to lose sight of this and judge people.
- Always look at the system instead, individuals like organisations are part of a larger system and go through maturity stages and organic choice points linked to these evolutions.
- Also, I’m coming in with dispassionate eyes (although empathetic), so in this case, I don’t have a deep collaboration, or any growth wishes for that person. My client is very supportive of her staff and that can sometimes create emotional bonds that can merk clarity.
It’s vital to keep judgement at bay with Kairos, we are all blind to our own organic choice points or have difficulty acting. The main question is how can we generate enough awareness to act? And that is usually the role of coaching, therapy, leadership development, vertical growth, etc.
The Window of Opportunity (External Time)
This is the timeframe dictated by external forces (market shifts, competitor actions, regulatory deadlines). You have a window within which you can act. We are talking here about a culture of ways of working that no longer match your context. What you are doing is at best ineffective and you are not getting the results you would need.
I saw this in a major manufacturing company where they kept adding more subcontractor capacity to solve the ongoing delays as they were running out of time to deliver (This is a “more of the same” approach in the systemic approach). As they did this, the contractors were complaining that they had no work and it seemed that the more people they added, the lower the output. Whilst the choice point was identified, the cause of it was not and the solution kept fuelling the issue and bringing it close to a crisis.
The window for opportunity is quite subjective… It’s the time you have before external events force you to act. From the moment weak signals appear to a moment before a crisis erupts, you have a window of opportunity to understand what is going on and tend to it. As time marches on, that window narrows as the situation stretches the boundaries of the system. If the system reaches break point, a crisis occurs and your window of opportunity closes, forcing you to act urgently. Hopefully you can recover, sometimes the failure is catastrophic, and you can’t. A crisis is objective and often unforgiving.
An example of a crisis was a contract I was involved with where we lost the budget. The management team were convinced that it would be an easy sell (simple domain in the Cynefin framework) and had overlooked the complexity of the situation. When the budget meeting occurred, the person who was to give us the funding simply refused to do so and as a team, we fell into the chaotic domain. It was fatal to the team and the contract ending after a few recovery attempts. It had been pushed beyond its point of resilience.
The Collision
Crises erupt when these timelines collide catastrophically. The Window of Opportunity slams shut because the organisation was consumed by Chronos and lacked the leader Kairos necessary to perceive the choice point within the available window. Catastrophic failures are often the result of unattended build-ups over time, even if they feel like nobody saw them coming. We are often blind to trends that happen in time, as we have been taught to detect short term cause and effect. We are caught unaware by these slow build ups that require the monitoring of different signals within the organisation.
Strategies for Time Alignment
We are sticklers for KPIs, OKRs, or operational data, but the weak signals operate at a much subtler level, and you need to seek them out and have specific listening chambers to address them. The ‘Canaries’ are just one part of your early warning system.
- Protect Kairos Time: Schedule deliberate reflection, strategy sessions, and ‘weak signal’ reviews shielded from operational firefighting. Encourage practices like mindfulness that foster cognitive openness.
- Proactively Map Windows: Use scenario planning (“What if X trend continues for 12 months?”) and pre-mortems (“Imagine it’s 2025, this project failed catastrophically – why?”) to make potential future windows visible now.
- Challenge Chronos Tyranny: Audit meetings and priorities. Ruthlessly eliminate low-value Chronos consumers to create space for sensing and strategic thinking.
- Change your DNA. Integrate these practices into performance assessments, make them an integral part of everyone’s work.
Your Call to Action
Identify one looming strategic challenge. Map it against these three timelines: What Chronos pressures distract from it? What needs to happen for Kairos (readiness) to emerge? When is the likely Window of Opportunity closing? Share one insight.
In our next article, we’ll address the leader’s inner journey as an essential pillar of opening to Kairos.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Cynefin framework I mentioned, are interested in managing the time polarities in your organisation, let’s talk. You can also find a more in-depth explanation of these methodologies in my book: How Might We? A Fresh Look at Change Management and Transformation from a Neurodivergent Perspective.