MC4Y – Chapter 1: 27 years at Audi, three farewells and a Raspi

The last plan

Once upon a time there was a man with a desk full of Post-its (no, not really – they were more like Metaplan cards and Visio models) who worked in IT. When you have spent 27 years with one company, there are two things you can say for certain:

First: you have tried just about every kind of coffee in the staff restaurant – including the one that tastes of printer toner.

Second: you have dealt with quite a lot of systems, projects and people – and usually all at the same time.

No, I wasn't one of those who kept themselves afloat with coffee in the morning and explained the world with Excel spreadsheets in the afternoon (although that did happen now and then, as did PowerPoint). I was one of those who tried, together with colleagues, to structure and understand the IT landscape of a global corporation – and above all: to survive it.

In the final years of my corporate career, I worked as an enterprise architect and product owner – a title that makes most people think of skyscrapers rather than data models. My main responsibilities were designing methods, training and facilitating workshops around planningIT, a powerful tool from Software AG based on Alfabet – in other words, a system that is at once incredibly useful and hopelessly complex. You can use it to map IT landscapes, visualise dependencies and prepare strategic decisions. And you can use it to plunge entire departments into mild confusion if you don't explain the glossary.

In my case, "designing methods" meant writing rules for something that is constantly trying to escape them. And I ran workshops in which terms such as application life cycle, capability mapping or architecture review process were not regarded as exotic species but as the daily house rules.

When I ran workshops, it was not just about models but also about finding your bearings amid all the "capabilities", "relations" and "heatmaps". My mission: to reduce complexity without lapsing into triviality. Or, as a colleague put it when I left:

"Peter, you always had the far-sighted view of the bigger picture. The far-sightedness remains – only now you no longer have to look at processes, tools and frameworks, but can enjoy the wide horizons of East Frisia and the North Sea ..." (Thomas H.)

On the side, I was the IT service owner for several applications. Or, as it is called in the agile world: product owner. That sounds like the owner of a dog called "Jira", but in reality it is the interface between the business side, technology and occasional madness. I had the opportunity to accompany projects that later went into operation – which was sometimes like a house move where nobody knows whether the electricity has already been switched off. Often in the role of a quiet bridge-builder between business and IT. Or, as it sometimes felt to me: as an interpreter between two species who were getting closer via a shared drive.

"Many thanks for your support with the planned questions and the training of the apprentices. I wish you lots of luck, good health, peace and relaxation for the next stage of your life." (Sebastian H.)

I have seen tools come and tools go, Excel spreadsheets mutate into life forms, and how you can keep hold of a common thread even in the densest system jungle – provided you laminated it beforehand.

Then came what comes to everyone at some point – the move into early retirement. And like so much in recent years, my farewell was not quite as simple as planned.

A big party? Unthinkable – Covid had long since risen to become the secret project manager. Instead there were three personal farewell get-togethers, each with 10 to 20 colleagues, where we could finally look each other in the eye – at a distance and with dignity. My boss at least joined the last one by video link, which in those days almost counted as an affectionate gesture. And many others with whom I had shared projects and processes over the years said goodbye by phone or e-mail.

"Dear Peter, we haven't seen each other for so long, and now this news. Well deserved, as you write. I assume that in your case retirement will also have something to do with restlessness ..." (Ulli)

"You will always be remembered for your hard work, helpfulness and expertise over the years. Thank you very much for your commitment to the team and ..." (Priyanka)

"Over very many years, you gathered knowledge and experience and not only used it to add value for Audi in many projects, but also always supported the people around you with it. You therefore have a large share in what distinguishes the SUP product team today: team spirit, appreciation, respect and mutual support ..." (Janusz)

I am deeply grateful for the appreciation I received during this time – but even more so for the people with whom I solved problems, carried projects, untangled processes and got systems running.

"Many thanks, dear Peter, for your loyal service at Audi. Your clear and sometimes uncomfortable manner always led to a constructive engagement with the issues ..." (Jakob)

"Hi Peter, even though we only worked together on release management for a short time, I was able to pick up a lot of information from you on the subject ..." (Raffael)

"Hello Peter, once again at this point: many thanks for your years of commitment to architecture management and for championing a complete EAM repository supported from all sides ..." (Christian)

A fresh start amid a tangle of cables

Early retirement did not begin with a book on the beach, but with a clear announcement: "I'm moving with my dog from Bavaria to join my wife in East Frisia, and there I'm finally going to set up my own network – and do it properly."

So my first stop was not the travel agent but the removal company, followed by Home Assistant, Pi-hole and IPv6 configurations. I tinkered with my own Windows server as a domain controller, built a small server landscape with Linux and Windows clients, and set up my home automation so that, in theory, the coffee machine could read me the weather forecast – if only I could get the permissions set correctly.

But none of this was an end in itself. It was part of my transformation.

From architecture to mindset

With every further step, it became clearer to me: I don't want to stop wanting to structure, support and enable things – but I want to do it differently. Above all, I also want to support people, develop teams and make IT more human, not just more efficient. No longer within a corporation, but with the freedom that only founding your own business brings.

And so MY COACHING FOR YOU – P. Hoenig, my-coaching4you.de came into being: a coaching and consulting business that stands on the shoulders of my previous experience – and on the determination to support people in their development. Not as someone who hands out answers, but as someone who paves the way.

What this path looks like, where it leads me – and what it has to do with project management, TOGAF, ITIL and life – I'll tell you next time.