In Greek mythology, time has two faces. Chronos, the ancient personification of time, depicted as an old, wise figure with a long beard, symbolizes time as measurable and linear, a time that flows. By contrast, Kairos is shown as a young man, sometimes with wings, with a single lock of hair on his forehead. You must seize him as he approaches, because the back of his head is bald and once he passes, you cannot catch him. He is a fleeting chance, an opportunity quickly gone. Kairos is the right, critical, or opportune moment, a decisive point when action must be taken. That is not just any moment, but the moment that matters most. Like an archer’s moment to release the arrow or a sailor’s moment to catch the wind.
According to Aristotle, time is the number of motion in respect of before and after. Time, therefore, is something counted, it is dependent on change or movement in the physical world – without change, there is no way to detect or measure time, and motion is ordered – some states come earlier, others later, and time measures this sequence.
Chronos is quantitative, Kairos is qualitative. Chronos is objective, Kairos is situational. Chronos is sequential, Kairos is opportune.
These two faces of time are not just myths or philosophy — they can guide design and implementation of development interventions.
In development processes we intentionally create actions aimed at achieving a change in certain areas. Alongside designing and implementing these actions, we must be aware of the context. In economic and social development, context refers to the specific set of circumstances, conditions, and factors – historical, cultural, political, institutional, environmental, and economic – that shape how development occurs, is experienced, and is measured in a particular place or time. Although the context is not our primary focus, it defines conditions under which our interventions are designed and implemented, and thus strongly influences outputs, outcomes, and impact.
There are several reasons why context matters:
- Policy design and implementation – Strategies that work in one country may fail in another if local context is ignored. We have seen many projects falter because solutions were copied without adaptation.
- Measurement – Success in one environment may be viewed as failure in another. For example, ten people moving to a big city is unremarkable, but in a small village it could mark the turning point toward sustainability.
- Interpretation – Context shapes meaning. The emergence of a local final product in an underdeveloped industrial area is far more significant than adding another final product in a mature industrial hub.
In development processes, we must consider both Kairos and Chronos. Chronos may be seen in, for instance, GDP trends, demographic shifts, institutional history, social norms – the timeline and conditions in which a project happens. Kairos, on the other hand, may be seen as an important opportunity for change, such as opportunities provided by public policies supporting the development of entrepreneurial ideas. This is the timely action that can make a disproportionate impact.
The challenge is to respect the context while acting when opportunities arise. It is essential to use Kairos for intervention, i.e. a project whose success depends on seizing critical moments, but at the same time consider the Chronos of the situation and how it may influence your intervention. Some projects succeed because they seize critical moments; others fail because they ignore them. And most likely there will be factors holding back the hand that is trying to grab a lock of hair on Kairos’s forehead. It may be a lack of understanding, funding, lengthy procedures, attitudes, or other obstacles. Kairos will not wait.
Chronos will endure, seemingly eternal. Kairos is fleeting. Chronos does not seek to destroy Kairos — it simply outlives him. Yet when we seize Kairos, we reshape Chronos. After such a moment, the timeline is forever changed. Our task is to be ready, to see the lock of hair when it appears, and to grasp it before it slips away.