Change is in the air. Breathe deeply.

“A competitive world offers two possibilities,” wrote economist Lester Thurow, “you can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.”

For a classic example of what Thurow is talking about, just check out two iconic American products that have been around for a century or so: Hostess Twinkies and Coca-Cola.

For more than 80 years the Hostess Company baked sweet and creamy treats such as the Twinkie. Marketed as “the golden dessert with the creamy filling,” Twinkies were loaded with sugar and preservatives, but they delighted Americans of all ages and kept 5,000 bakers per day busy for several generations.

But, when American tastes began to shift to “natural, healthy and organic,” the people at Hostess stubbornly held tight to their 1950s viewpoint. They were unwilling or unable to update their hallowed recipes or come up with new strategies for a changing marketplace.

In 2013 Hostess went bankrupt. Their CEO blamed a labor dispute, but it was really rigid thinking and a failure of imagination that sunk the celebrated American snack company. More recently, the Twinkie brand has been bought and re-introduced by two private equity firms that have lowered the calorie count and promised a new face for the old snack.

Now consider the venerable old Coca-Cola Company. For more than 100 years Coke reigned as one of the world’s most popular brands. But in the 1990s, sales declined as nutritionists blamed sugary soft drinks for alarming national increases in obesity and diabetes.

Instead of denying reality, Coke responded by creating 120 new lo-cal or no-cal drinks. Coke CEO Muhtar Kent even authorized a new slogan to describe the company’s healthier renaissance: “Together, we are re-imagining our growth.”

The result: during the same year that the Hostess Company was closing down all its bakeries, Coke was busy making plans to host an international “Re-imagination Celebration” at the World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland.

Lester Thurow was right. We are living in a time of unprecedented change. If they want to keep winning, even the companies that are household names must constantly adapt. Dealing with change is not just a skill, it’s an attitude. Some people and companies choose to stubbornly resist change, and some choose to openly embrace it. It’s a choice we all get to make.