Seizing Kairos Moments in a Chronos World: Capitalizing on Opportune Moments in Strategic Decision-Making Published April 15, 2025 By CMSgt John “Mac” McClean Maxwell AFB -- “Lose not yourself in a far-off time, seize the moment that is thine.” These words, penned by German philosopher Friedrich Schiller, exhort us to make the most of present opportunities rather than dwell on past or future times. The Department of the Air Force now faces such an opportune moment given its current operational challenges, and Airmen and Guardians must seize this chance to shape a force that is ready to meet tomorrow’s demands. In reflecting on the future of warfare and emphasizing the need for rapid modernization in the face of evolving global threats, Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna, while speaking at the recent Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium, stated, “What we did yesterday is not going to succeed today. We need innovative Guardians thinking outside the box, questioning assumptions, and evolving our service at the tactical level.”[1] Chief of Staff of the Air Force General David Allvin similarly advocated, “America needs more Air Force. More Air Force doesn’t mean more of the same.”[2] The future conflict is already here, and our reluctance to open the aperture of established organizational processes of thinking, planning, and problem solving have hindered our ability to recognize and seize the moments of innovative opportunity. An understanding of the ancient Greek concepts of Chronos and Kairos can help leaders balance two distinct approaches to strategic decision making that mitigate this issue. The Concepts of Chronos and Kairos in Decision-Making Perhaps our over-reliance on limiting processes stems from an aversion to risk or an uncertainty to move beyond what we find comfortable. Maybe we fear change, or we hesitate to cast aside what has worked for so many years. Such justifications often root themselves in the false dilemma that we cannot simultaneously embrace both old and new ways of problem solving and planning. Such binary thinking has limited our possibilities for too long, when in reality, change does not necessarily require dismantling everything old to usher in the new. How can we methodically employ the 8-Step Problem Solving Process without allowing it to limit our creativity or be fueled by a timeline rather than desired results? How can we employ the Joint Planning Process without it forcing our thinking into a box or by limiting outcomes to only what has witnessed before? How do we appropriately balance the application of our System 1 thinking (automatic and intuitive) against our System 2 (deliberate and analytical)? Successful military leaders of the past effectively harmonized this interplay of using thinking processes without constraining themselves to the limitations. We too can achieve this balance by reframing (rather than reconstructing) our approach to planning and problem solving, and the ancient Greeks’ understanding of time may help us achieve that end. Koine Greek distinguishes between two aspects of time: Chronos and Kairos. As the Greek god of “objective” time, Chronos personifies what we know as clock time. It represents the homogenous unfolding of the calendar along an infinite continuum, and it provides a measurable pattern of the procession of time. These are the ticking of the clock, the passing of the days, and the constant flow of time that is always moving forward. On the other hand, Kairos, the Greek god of “appropriate” times, personifies the subjective heterogenous moments that present critical moments of opportunity. These are not as much about the passage of minutes but about the significance of particular occasions where time seems to stop, and we are fully present in the here and now. Franciscan friar Richard Rohr refers to Kairos as those moments in life where you say, “Oh my God, this is it. I get it,” “This is as perfect as it can be,” or “It doesn’t get any better than this.”[3] Whereas Chronos provides a quantitative measure of time, Kairos captures the qualitative aspects that give time vibrance.[4] When applied to problem solving and planning, these two terms give insight into how a military leader might operate. Chronos thinkers prioritize getting things into an orderly fashion, establishing a sequence, and identifying quantitative measures that must take place for success to occur. The concepts of Project Management provide the imagery needed to understand this approach. Chronos leadership is important within the military organization, as things need to be in order, standardized, and structured to effectively execute Mission Command (Centralized Command – Distributed Control – Decentralized Execution).[5] Even so, over-reliance on Chronos approaches can leave one rushing from meeting-to-meeting without leaving space to digest the material, living by their calendars so tightly that “thinking space” is crowded out, and planning in ways that neglect creative possibilities (“It’s always been done this way,” “This worked this way before,” or “Back at my last base...”). Kairos thinkers are different. These leaders think less about the sequence and take more of an intuitive, time-fluid approach. They recognize that there are special times when everything comes together in a unique way for success to occur. Though such thinkers have accomplished some of the most impossible feats in history, their unstructured and sometimes illogical approach stands in stark contrast to the military’s appreciation of order. It is therefore no surprise that within the Profession of Arms, we seem to find more Chronos than Kairos leaders. Research findings indicate that the organized, hierarchal, and disciplined nature of the Armed Forces advantages the leaders who “productively influence subordinates by setting standards, goals and priorities, and establishing long-term objectives to promptly respond to any task” (in other words, Chronos-based measures of success).[6] While this is not intrinsically negative, it does suggest that military organizations may have an inherent gap in the diversity of Kairos thinkers to balance the Chronos limitations. Though Chronos leadership has many positives, over-reliance on those attributes can produce undesirable results when not challenged: adamantly sticking to failing plans, putting off in-the-moment opportunities for later planning meetings, inside-the-box thinking, etc. The key for leaders is to not allow their decision making to remain in “Chronos autopilot,” and in so doing, fail to recognize Kairos opportunities and seize them. Chronos and Kairos concepts help frame two types of strategic decision making, and the better leaders can decide between the two, the better types of strategic decisions they will make. However, success does not come in the “pendulum swing” of always choosing Kairos over Chronos, but rather in the harmonious balance of consciously employing the right method for the decision at hand. Successful leaders know when to use Chronos and when to jump at Kairos; success is a combination of putting in the hours as well as an intuitive readiness to pounce when the time is right. Thomas et al. refers to this as a “kairotic switch,” which is the capacity and willingness to abandon a plan when events get in the way.[7] These researchers acknowledged that though planning is an indispensable managerial competency (Chronos), rigid plans that become unbending to the variables often prove to be ineffective and costly. Great leaders learn to navigate the tension and are willing to accept the risk of changing course when needed (Kairos). Kairos Lessons from General Dwight Eisenhower By most measures, General Dwight Eisenhower was a Chronos leader, but he did not allow his tendencies to confine his thinking when a Kairos moment presented itself. In the months leading up to Operation Overlord, General Dwight D. Eisenhower worked with numerous others to finalize the execution of a plan already two years in the making, sequencing thousands of events to make sure the invasion of Europe was successful. Endless hours and countless long nights of burning the midnight oil all led to the specific point on which the entire success of the operation hinged: D-Day. Choosing the right date was crucial to synchronize with the Soviet summer offensive in the east and to maximize pressure on German resources.[8] With a long list of desirable conditions for the invasion in mind, General Eisenhower ruled out the month of May due to logistical concerns and so considered the month of June to commence operations. The invasion was thus planned for June 5, 1944. Initially, the forecast for June 5 seemed unfavorable, leading to a provisional postponement. However, a glint of hope emerged on June 4 that suggested a brief period of fair weather would start on the night of the 5th. Although still far from ideal conditions, Eisenhower made the final decision to proceed with the invasion on June 6. In retrospect, forging ahead with the original date would have proved perilous, and postponing the invasion until the next suitable tides two weeks later would have resulted in catastrophic weather conditions.[9] The General’s ability and willingness to make this “kairotic switch” proved to be one of the most important decisions to the operation and changed the course of World War II. In his operational planning and dutiful observation of the ever-changing weather reports to find the right window, General Eisenhower exhibited hallmark characteristics of Chronos thinking, but his decision to move forward on June 6 was primarily made with his Kairos skills. Interestingly, he even went so far as to pen an apology letter in case the invasion failed, which is truly illustrative of both Chronos and Kairos leadership.[10] If Air and Space leaders are going to compete and win in this time of significant strategic challenges, then like General Eisenhower, they must seize Kairos moments rather than be held back by uncertainty, ambiguity, fear of failing, counterproductive organizational processes, and the like. General Eisenhower’s approach to decision making may provide Chronos leaders insight into a way forward. Eisenhower understood that time management needed to be both effective and efficient, and through his experience as a military officer who managed complexed tasks, he developed a tool to help navigate his priorities. This tool is known as the Eisenhower Matrix, and it is used in in a myriad of settings to help senior leaders structure their time. In short, it categorizes tasks according to importance (the extent to which the task contributes to long term goals) and urgency (the extent to which the task demands one’s attention right now), and then prescribes what course of action is best to approach that priority (do the task yourself right now, take the time to plan what needs to be done, delegate the task to someone else, or get rid of the task all together). In his examination of strategic decision-making, Butler outlines a connection between the Eisenhower Matrix and the interplay of Chronos and Kairos time. He identifies that where Chronos is well-prepared decision making that occurs within the “Decide” quadrant of the quadrant, Kairos is adaptive decision making that occurs in the “Do” quadrant; those tasks that fall to the “Delegate” or “Delete” quadrants are considered non-time factors to the leader.[11] In this revised tool, one can then see how Eisenhower successfully navigated the “kairotic switch” at his moment of decision. The execution of Operation Overlord was one of high importance but low urgency (external conditions did not require an immediate action), giving Eisenhower the space to engage in well-planned decision making. In this planning phase, he could include everyone that would be impacted by the decision, establish anticipated milestones and goals, work through systematic problem solving or brainstorming processes, adhere to bureaucracies and their processes, and slow down when needed to analyze distinct points within the cycle. Without a crisis or opportunity to force a reprioritization of the task, the execution of Operation Overlord could have commenced exactly as planned. However, weather conditions presented a crisis that changed the D-Day conditions, and Eisenhower, rather than scrapping the plan or pressing ahead stubbornly, recognized the need for change in the moment. He now shifted to adaptive decision making where he had to make bets with little information, not depend on his usual sensor networks, reduce the number of people involved in the decision making to as few as possible, require quick decisions, bypass bureaucracies, and use informal networks to push momentum forward. Eisenhower recognized the Kairos moment for what it was, and he trusted that his careful attention to his Chronos efforts prepared him to effectively make an intuitive decision. Even in Kairos moments, a foundation of a good decision-making process still matters. It is also worth considering, what if Eisenhower had consumed his focus and energy with non-time tasks (those that should have been delegated or deleted)? Would his decision have been the same, or would his judgement have been clouded by fatigue, distraction, or busyness? Proper task management catalyzes the ability to seize Kairos moments and gives leaders the space to make successful intuitive decisions. Military leaders can glean another principle from Eisenhower’s “kairotic shift:” seizing Kairos moments hinges on creating a felt need for change. Eisenhower’s intuitive decision to change the plan was risky, and it could have failed miserably...thousands of lives were in jeopardy if he were wrong. What prompted him to take such a gamble with so much on the line? Eisenhower understood that the result of doing nothing at all (whether by scrapping the plan or by stubbornly sticking to it) was a far greater threat. He recognized that not changing was worse than the change itself. On an individual level, this is an important perspective to maintain, because it provides leaders the encouragement needed to seize Kairos opportunities. From an organizational application, if the Department of the Air Force is going to evolve to meet the demands of tomorrow’s war and foster a culture of innovation, then the entire organization must buy into that vision, and they must truly believe that not changing from its current state will lead to a disastrous outcome. The fear of failing to compete and win MUST be greater than the fear of failure, the aversion to risk, the comfort of old processes, and so on. While senior leaders have championed the need for this shift, the persistence of legacy operational practices that remains at lower levels suggests that the organization has not yet bought in to the vision. Conclusion The Department of the Air Force is at a historical inflection point. The future force, to prevail in conflict, must break away from historic ways of business and reoptimize its practices to truly dominate the air space in highly contested environments. The ancient Greek concepts of Chronos and Kairos concepts help frame two types of strategic decision-making, and adopting them into one’s approach to strategic decision-making can help Air and Space leaders seize moments of opportunity to make much-needed changes. An examination of General Eisenhower’s leadership through the D-Day execution provides a case study of how military leaders today can practically employ measures that encourage “kairotic shifts” in their own decision-making. His time management tool, the Eisenhower Matrix, equips leaders to prioritize tasks in a manner that creates the needed space to facilitate these shifts through successful intuitive decisions, and it highlights how important it is to create a felt need for change. Though military effectiveness necessitates reliance on Chronos structures, we cannot allow their limitations to cripple us...we must seize Kairos moments in a Chronos world to win. CMSgt John “Mac” McClean is the Senior Enlisted Leader of Religious Affairs for the United States Air Forces in Europe & United States Air Forces Africa. He has served in many career-broadening opportunities, including duties as a Technical Training Instructor, as an Enlisted Professional Military Education Instructor, and as a Joint Special Operations University faculty member, and his varied assignments have provided him invaluable experiences serving within the joint, Total Force, and coalition environments. Chief McClean’s educational credentials include a Doctor of Ministry in Leadership, a Master of Divinity in Chaplaincy, and a Master of Education in Leadership and Administration. Prior to his current position, he was the Senior Enlisted Leader of Religious Affairs for the United States Special Operations Command. Notes [1]. Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, “Air Force, Space Force Discuss Requirements to Win Future Fights,” March 10, 2025. [2]. Ibid. [3]. Richard Rohr, “Growing up Men,” On Being with Krista Tippett (podcast), April 13, 2017. [4]. Francois Hartog, “Chronos, Kairos, Krisis: The Genesis of Western Time,” History and Theory 60, no.3 (2021): 430. [5]. Air Force Doctrine Publication (AFDP) 1-1, Mission Command, August 14, 2023. [6]. Robert Stanciulescu and Elvira Beldiman, “The Issue of Leadership Styles in the Military Organization,” Land Forces Academy Review 24, no. 1 (2019): 54-60. [7]. Mark Thomas, Duncan Angwin, Ioannis Thanos, Gazi Islam, and Robert Demir, “Speeds of Post-Merger Integration: The Roles of Chronos and Kairos in M&As,” Long Range Planning 56, no. 6 (2023): Article 102345. [8]. The Royal Air Forces Association, “The Man who Decided the Date of D-Day,” June 5, 2023. [9]. Ibid. [10]. Scott Simon, “The Speech Eisenhower Never Gave on the Normandy Invasion,” NPR, June 8, 2013. [11]. Chris Butler, “Chronos and Kairos Time in Strategic Decision Making,” The Uncertainty Project, June 28, 2023.