The Answer to “What Time Is It?” Is Not On A Clock
What time is it? It’s easy enough to glance down at your watch to see exactly what time it is. Humanity has been measuring time for about 6,000 years. As clocks became more accurate we’ve become more and more obsessed with time. While we need it (maybe obviously) we mostly never have enough of it. There’s not enough time to get the work done we need. Not enough time to run errands. Not enough time to see our families. The idea of chronological time comes from the Greek word Chronos. There’s another kind of time. A kind of time we don’t talk about as much...
The last several weeks of the pandemic have seen countless things nobody would wish on the world. But that’s not all we’ve seen.
There’s more authentic human connection than ever. Real human connection with sharing and vulnerability as we’re all “in this together” in a way. I’m on the board of a trade group and on a call the other day a lot of the people on the board were sharing what they were dealing with. Some really great wins. But also things on the other end of the spectrum, that others rallied around to provide listening and support. I’m seeing this not only inside companies, but amongst friends and families. People coming together to lift each other up.
The planet has had a chance to take a deep breath. There has been such a resurgence of wildlife and clear skies. People in India can see the Himalayas for the first time in 'decades,' as the lockdown eases air pollution. I live in LA and the air seems clearer here, too. There are dolphins in the canals of Venice, alligators on beaches in Mexico, even birds (aside from pigeons) audible in New York City. We can see clearly our impact on the ecosystem and have a chance to do something more meaningful about it.
People and companies are coming together for common good. I just saw another story where Amazon has partnered with Urban Air Adventure Parks to hire some of their staff, to be returned at the end of the pandemic. HEB is selling food from local restaurants in Texas. And restaurants are starting to sell groceries from local farmers. A company I do some work with, Movista, is offering their workforce management software to support for COVID-19 at vastly reduced rates.
Community and company support has changed, too. The pandemic has shown us inequality in healthcare, access to PPE and other basic needs that those around have often pitched in to help. An example is Colgate mobilizing across three continents to produce special soap (with instructions on proper hand washing on the label) and is donating 25 million bars to the World Health Organization.
And businesses that have seemed so set in their ways are suddenly as agile as the latest company out of Silicon Valley. We’ve seen that we can literally turn billion dollar companies (not to mention entire countries) on a dime.
The other kind of time is from the Greek Kairos, a propitious moment for decision or action. Moments in time that have profound impact. Have deep significance. And maybe even shape everything that comes after.
The answer to what time is it right now is not on a clock. It is kairos. It’s exactly a propitious moment where we have a chance, as businesses and as individuals, to forever change some of the things that were not working in favor of what we now see really does.