20Forty’s Newsletter

The Disappearing Middle

What Happens When We Automate the Work That Taught People How to Think

Oct 1 • Kevin Novak

1

September 2026

Receptacle or Receptor?

What a Podcast Guest Said About Customers, and Why It Applies to Everyone an Organization Touches

Sep 24 • Kevin Novak

2

1

4

The Same Hole, Dug Faster

Lateral Thinking, an Unpaid Invoice, and What Is Still Worth Paying For

Sep 17 • Kevin Novak

2

1

7

Small Waves – The Transition Is Already Happening, One Office at a Time

Issue 281, September 10, 2026

Sep 10 • Kevin Novak

1

7

Who Owns That Number?

Why Organizations Can Add a Measure and Never Subtract One

Sep 3 • Kevin Novak

1

15

August 2026

The Conditions Nobody Chose

A Late Summer Sampler on Leading When the Ground Won’t Hold Still

Aug 27 • Kevin Novak

1

14

The Proxy Collapse

What Happens to People When the Proof Stops Working

Aug 20 • Kevin Novak

1

23

After the Theater

What the First Ninety Days of Real Change Look Like

Aug 13 • Kevin Novak

1

7

The Identity Renegotiation

What AI Asks People to Give Up Before It Gives Anything Back

Aug 6 • Kevin Novak

1

14

July 2026

Transformation Theater

The Elaborate Rituals of Change That Produce Everything Except Change

Jul 30 • Kevin Novak

2

3

21

The Harmony Reflex

Why Disagreement Feels Like Danger Before It Feels Like Information

Jul 23 • Kevin Novak

2

13

The Trust Gap

A Midsummer Sampler on the Asset Every Organization Is Spending and Almost None Are Measuring

Jul 16 • Kevin Novak

3

9