My neighbor got fired for doing his job too well. Three weeks later, his former boss was begging him to come back. Marcus worked at a logistics company outside Chicago. Every morning, he watched his coworkers arrive early, stay late, and pretend to be busy just to impress management. He did things differently. He used AI tools to organize reports, summarize meetings, and handle repetitive paperwork. When his work was finished, he went home instead of sitting at his desk until 6 p.m. His manager called him lazy. “People who care about their careers don’t watch the clock,” the man told him. Marcus smiled and kept doing his job. Then the company announced a new enterprise AI rollout. Suddenly, management wanted everyone to learn how to use AI to improve productivity. Marcus was the only employee who already knew how to make it work. But his boss had a problem with that.