Student Affairs NOW Generous Thinking & Leading
Oct 8, 2025
Kathleen Fitzpatrick, a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University and an expert in digital humanities, shares insights from her books on generous thinking and leadership. She critiques competitive individualism and promotes collaboration in scholarship. Kathleen emphasizes the importance of formative peer review and outlines tools for generous leadership, particularly during crises like COVID-19. The conversation highlights the necessity of transparency, making people feel seen, and practicing generosity as a continuous commitment.
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Critique Is Fueled By Competitive Individualism
- Academia's culture of 'critique for critique's sake' stems from competitive individualism and zero-sum thinking.
- That dynamic prevents collaborative 'yes, and' conversations that would strengthen ideas and public engagement.
Turn Peer Review Into Formative Help
- Use formative peer review to make other scholars' work as strong as possible rather than gatekeeping it out of circulation.
- Focus critiques on improving ideas, asking for elaboration, and helping arguments succeed in public view.
Mission Statements Clash With Institutional Rewards
- Institutions reward individual achievement even while they claim to value collaborative, community-engaged work.
- To realize mission statements, governance and reward structures must shift from hierarchical to genuinely collaborative systems.
