The Cylinder and the Cone. An Analogy for Change

I’m sure you’ve been in a similar situation. An announcement is made at work outlining a change. You might have a flash of panic and alarm over what the change means to you. Others in your team might be relaxed and not fussed at all. Others may even be visibly upset.

It’s not just the workplace. Updates are shared within families and during friend catchups. We all react and respond differently to what’s happened.

We can have a look at various change theories, or behavioural analysis to examine change and reactions. But we might instead find inspiration and a useful analogy from our Ancient Greek friends, two thousand years ago.

The Greeks were interested in transforming our own souls to live a flourishing and fulfilled life. What this looks like depends on the various philosophical schools and traditions at the time. Nonetheless, a great deal of thought and discussion was focused on our response to things.

The Stoic philosopher Chrysippus addressed this very issue using the simple analogy of a cylinder to explain the source of our internal movements.

Imagine a cylinder resting at the top of a hill. It will roll nicely down when pushed. Similarly, if a cone is at the top, it will roll down and veer off to the side. Rather than an imaginary push, we can instead say that a strong gust of wind pushes both of these shapes forward. The external event (the wind) is the same, yet our response is different. 

Interestingly, for Chrysippus, the wind is merely the trigger for the action, while the shape itself is the cause of the action’s specific outcome. Why does a cylinder roll straight? Because it is a cylinder. It is internally disposed to do so and is incapable of veering off. It responds the way it does because that is its fundamental shape. 

Said simply, we respond to change the way we do because our internal selves (our disposition, character, shape) have been formed over a lifetime to react in that specific manner. The external change is not the root cause of our reaction, it is merely the push that reveals the path our character (shape) has already set.

For us, the focus becomes on examining our own shapes rather than the winds or external causes. It’s a lifelong quest, to honestly assess if our responses are appropriate and to continue the deliberate processes of refining our internal shape to roll true down the hill when life’s inevitable changes happen.