Last week, 4,000 people at one company lost their jobs. At one time.

Between the State of the Union speech and the U.S. and Israel attacking Iraq, maybe you missed Block CEO Jack Dorsey’s announcement that the company is laying off 40% of its workers.

No. That’s not a typo.

On Feb. 26, Dorsey announced that AI made it possible to part ways with 4,000 people because:

“we’re already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company. and that’s accelerating rapidly.”

Wall Street loved it. Block stock price rose by almost 20% by the end of last week.

How did the affected Block employees and their loved ones feel? We can guess.

The better question is how do you feel knowing that, thanks to generative artificial intelligence, it is now feasible for a CEO to slice 40% of their headcount in one day?

Actually, that’s not the right question to ask.

With respect to AI, are you busy living or are you busy dying?

Making A Choice

Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene more than three years ago, many people, me included, have spent considerable time learning how to think about AI and how to use it. We’ve gone deep into understanding how it can accelerate the work we do, and even how it can facilitate entirely new products or services.

Not everyone has taken that approach. Many people refuse to use AI or to learn about it. For some, AI is a social menace because of its growing demand for electricity and clean water to power its data centers. Still others see it as one of the greatest threats to cognitive thought and creativity since the creation of social media.

Those are real concerns, and each deserves consideration.

Some people also view AI as a direct threat to their jobs. Thirteen months ago, I wrote,

“AI may not be coming for your job yet, but it will likely impact it very soon. The time to get ready is now.”

Those words were as true in February 2025 as they are now. Today, though, the stakes are higher as the Dorsey announcement demonstrates.

AI is not going away. We cannot close our eyes and refuse to use it.

The only decision you need to make right now is which side of the Andy Dufresne question you’re going to land on.

Get Busy

There’s a scene in the 1994 film “The Shawshank Redemption” in which Dufresne, jailed unjustly for the murder of his wife, reveals a plan to his buddy, Red, in the prison yard. Their conversation frames and encapsulates the entire film.

Here’s a glimpse of the scene if you’re not familiar.

When Red pushes back on Andy’s dream, Andy speaks the memorable line:

“I guess it comes down to a simple choice really. Get busy living or get busy dying.”

With respect to AI, that’s the choice everyone in the workforce today is making. Will you learn how to use AI and embrace its power to amplify your skillsets and unlock your creativity, or are you content to keep your head in the sand?

Will you take control or let events control you?

Decide To Act

Unfortunately, just learning about AI will not guarantee employment. Some of us who acquire and master requisite skills will be impacted. That is a real, true, and regrettable fact.

But by deciding to act, to learn about AI, to go behind the gloomy headlines and figure out how to unlock AI’s value, you can have agency. By moving forward, you become a better trained and, ultimately, more easily employed person even if the economy or a company-wide strategic shift overtakes you.

If you’re not already learning about AI, I hope you decide to take control of your future and choose to act. Here are three ways you can start right now:

1. Schedule a free, no-obligation 30-minute conversation with me. We’ll review where you are with AI, and I’ll suggest a path forward tailored to you.
2. Sign up for my AI Trainer course today. It’s a four-week course tailored to help you begin using AI with confidence.
3. Or, if you have a job now, take advantage of any AI training your employer offers. Sign up for it today, and commit to completing it.

This is happening right now. A company’s leaders are sitting in a conference room deciding how many people they can let go and when they should do it.

Are you prepared if its happening where you work?

Our future is what we make it. Decide today to shape yours, and get busy living.