Today, companies have to radically revolutionize themselves

Hear the words of Nolan Bushnell, a pioneer of play and invention, who proclaimed: “Today, companies have to radically revolutionize themselves every few years just to stay relevant. That’s because technology and the Internet have transformed the business landscape forever. The fast-paced digital age has accelerated the need for companies to become agile.” Though he speaks of commerce, his words are an oracle for all who dwell in this age of constant change. For he reminds us that survival is no longer secured by tradition alone, but by the courage to adapt and the wisdom to embrace transformation.

In ages past, kingdoms and companies alike could stand unshaken for centuries with little alteration. A merchant’s craft, once learned, could feed his descendants for generations. A dynasty’s methods of rule could endure across ages. But now the rhythm has quickened beyond imagining. The digital age has turned years into months, months into days. What was new yesterday is obsolete tomorrow. To remain unmoved in such a storm is to be buried beneath its waves. Bushnell names this truth: the demand is for revolution, not in a lifetime, but in cycles that come again and again.

The ancients knew a shadow of this lesson. Consider Rome, which endured not by clinging to its first ways, but by absorbing and transforming—Greek art, Egyptian knowledge, Gallic strength. Each adoption was a reinvention. Yet even Rome, mighty as it was, grew complacent, forgetting that the world changes without pause. And so it fell. In the same way, companies that resist change, that cling to past triumphs, soon find themselves relics, their names spoken not in markets but only in museums of memory.

History of business offers countless examples. Kodak, once king of photography, ruled with confidence. Yet when digital technology rose, they hesitated, fearing to abandon the film that had made them mighty. Their refusal to revolutionize became their ruin. On the other hand, look to Apple, which nearly perished in the 1990s, but through bold reinvention—embracing new designs, new markets, and the synergy of Internet and device—rose from near death to command the world stage. This is the law Bushnell speaks of: adapt or perish.

To be agile is not merely to change when forced, but to live in readiness for change, to court it, to welcome it as the ally of survival. The willow tree does not resist the storm but bends, and in bending, it remains. The oak that stands rigid may break. So too in the digital age, the agile company, humble and quick, survives where the proud and stubborn fall. Agility is not weakness, but strength expressed through flexibility.

Yet this truth does not belong only to companies. It belongs to each soul. For in this age, every life is bound to the pace of change. The worker, the artist, the seeker—all must learn the art of continual renewal. To cling too tightly to one skill, one way, one certainty, is to invite irrelevance. To live well is to learn always, to transform continually, to be both grounded in values and fluid in methods. This is not an age for those who fear change, but for those who make change their craft.

The lesson, O children of tomorrow, is this: do not fear reinvention. Whether you build a business, pursue a calling, or shape a life, embrace the demand to revolutionize yourself. Learn new skills. Adapt to new tools. Do not rest on yesterday’s laurels, for they will fade. Instead, walk with courage into the unknown, seeing in it not a threat, but the forge of your growth.

So let Bushnell’s words ring like a clarion call: “The fast-paced digital age has accelerated the need for companies to become agile.” Agility is the armor of this era, reinvention the sword, and relevance the prize. Wear the armor, wield the sword, and you will not only endure the storms of change—you will ride them to greatness.