By Billie Frys
Jeffrey Hibbard did not stumble into technical communication by accident. After completing his Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Penn State in 1963, he was in the Career Services Office reviewing jobs, saw technical communication, and knew that it was something he was interested in. In fact, there was a technical writing job listed at IBM that was very intriguing. “IBM was considered a great place to work if you could get a job with them,” he said. He interviewed with them on campus, and they offered him not one, but two job options: one in product publications and one in engineering publications. He took the latter. His job responsibilities included editing technical reports and journal articles in the Engineering and Development Laboratory in New York.
After a year and a half, Hibbard moved to corporate headquarters as a junior editor of the IBM Journal of Research and Development. Following this move, he spent his entire career with IBM journals, working his way up to Editor-at-Large. In 1972–1973, he became manager of corporate technical publications, which focused on the business side of three corporate publications. While management was not something he actively sought out, in this role, he learned the business side of journal publications, including circulation, distribution, printing, and graphic arts. Hibbard even went to printing school in New York City. Though he was successful as a manager and received several promotions, he still thought, “This ain’t good because it’s no fun! It’s all budgets, bureaucracy, and BS! I like the science and technical side of what I did when I was an editor.” After some negotiations with IBM, Hibbard became Program Manager for Publishing Systems. In this role, he was in charge of developing software that could process scientific and engineering documents—a super version of what we would now call publishing software.
As Hibbard worked his way up the ladder, he finally became Senior Editor of the IBM Journal of Research and Development and loved this position. His favorite part of the job was to “wander around the company, world-wide, see what was going on and encourage employees to publish on their work.” Hibbard comments, “The nice part of working for a large company in a very small well-defined position is that the career path was clear and easily laid out.” Hibbard retired from IBM in 2002.
The Role of Professional Societies
Hibbard is a long-time member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), holding all offices including being a Past President of STC. IBM really liked him to be involved with professional organizations, and encouraged him to speak at colleges, universities, and other organizations to help elevate IBM’s name. Hibbard notes that being involved with STC was “good for him, good for IBM, and good for STC.”
Hibbard was also involved with the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC), the largest United Kingdom body representing information development professionals. He was also the STC delegate to Intecom and was the program chair for the Forum 2000 Conference in London. He says that the nice part of being involved with ISTC was that it helped him connect with other technical communication professionals internationally.
His best memory from STC was during the mid-1980s when he was President. During his tenure, the STC office made the transition into personal computers, which was a huge accomplishment. Additionally, when he was president-elect, there was a new Executive Director on board, and they were able to “grow up together,” in a sense.
Understanding the Technical Communication Field
Hibbard notes three differences in technical communication today from when he started in the field. The main difference is directly related to technology and the monumental evolution.
- Tools you can use yourself (email, Internet, etc.). Users now have access to all the world’s knowledge, and that means there is not much you can’t find out.
- The skillset for the end-user has changed, also. “We must think about how they now have instant information tools available to them. Previously, you had to know; now you don’t have to know, you just have to know how to find out.”
This is really a sociological difference. “Technical communication now has a lot higher standing than it used to. When I started, it was hard to convince people you were any more than a comma pusher. And now, most places have a respect for what a technical communicator can do for them.” He notes that the members of the profession have helped us get to this point: “by virtue of their diligence they have gained credibility.” Also, the need for our field has grown substantially. “Back in the day, we didn’t have the respect for the end-user that we do now. Your job was to make them want what you have. Now to stay in business, companies must make the user happy.” - Science has advanced more in the last 20 years than all previous science put together. There’s a huge demand to get that knowledge out in terms that the public can understand. You can no longer write a paper that only you and three other people can understand.
Key Traits of Successful Technical Communicators
As we discussed the different traits that make a successful technical communicator, Hibbard noted that he has witnessed four key traits that are all indicators of success in this field:
- You have to know how to collaborate and be a good judge of people. Additionally, you must wrap around the personalities of the people you are working with, even if their personalities are different from yours or are difficult to handle. There is a key ability to draw information out of people without aggravating them, and that is learned over time.
- Let the other person have your way. Persuade the person that you are working with to do what you want by making them think it is their own idea.
- Don’t get stuck in “Analysis Paralysis”—know the difference between the pursuit of excellence and being too much of a perfectionist. There is a law of diminishing returns on every project. This is also a skill that can come with experience and confidence as someone grows into their career.
- No matter where you are in your career progression—beginning, middle, or end—have a mentor. There is always something you can learn from someone else. Additionally, if you have something to offer, you should be a mentor as well.
International Technical Communication
One important aspect of Hibbard’s work was done internationally. He worked with presenters from 20+ countries on an international conference program, with professional organizations, and with IBM employees around the world. His main advice for working in technical communication internationally is that sometimes you have to play the referee between cultures. With peer-reviewed articles, he had to recognize that the culture of the author and reviewer don’t always match. As the editor, he had to realize the differences between cultures/countries and find middle ground. For example, if you are working with a Japanese peer reviewer and a Scandinavian author, the Japanese reviewer might make what seem to be minor suggestions to address an issue that is actually very concerning and must be addressed before publication. It’s the editor’s job to understand how cultural norms can impact the review process.
Hibbard reflected on a few cultural mishaps that happened during his tenure, saying, “My career was far from a series of perfect achievements. But what they say is true: you learn more from your mistakes than from doing things right.” The more you work with different cultures, the better you become at navigating these differences.
Reflecting Back on a Successful Career
When asked about what he wished he had known when he started in technical communication, Hibbard said, “It was always a constant learning process, which is how it should be.” He then laughed and said, “I would have known a lot better and a lot faster! One regret is that I never really published anything under my own name besides a few journal articles. I might have one good book in me, but I’ve never found the time to take a crack at it, and I often wonder what would have happened if I had found the time.”
Hibbard’s expectations when starting in the field were to pay off his college loans, make a decent living, and make enough money to not starve to death. Hibbard says, “My goals then were pragmatic and short term. In the end, I also got to see the world, meet some good people, and had some fun along the way, so I’m pretty happy with my career. Also, as they say, this isn’t over just yet!”
Hibbard parted by giving a few pieces of advice for someone just starting in the field:
- Master basic skills such as a strong command of the English language.
- Develop communication skills, including a willingness to attend to detail without overdoing it, respect for other people, and learning how to collaborate. These interpersonal skills are just as important as writing and communication skills.
- Don’t worry too much about tool knowledge—the half-life of tool knowledge is about a year. “You can be great at some tool, but that means you are great at littering the world with crap. Do worry about the fundamental skills; these capabilities are forever!”
Hibbard had a very successful career as a technical communicator for IBM spanning nearly 40 years. His contributions to the scientific world, profession, and the many people from across the globe he crossed paths with have been very significant.
BILLIE FRYS is the Director of Communications and Marketing at the Mercer University School of Law. She received her MS in Technical Communication Management from Mercer University School of Engineering in May 2017.
