How many kilos of Agile did you buy this year?

In Serbia, "agile" is no longer bought by the kilo but in truckloads. Conferences everywhere, new consultants, post-its on walls, 15 minutes standing every morning. As often, the problem is not in the form but in the substance.

Professionalism

Find a programmer who uses Linux privately, who knows who Martin Fowler is, who can explain why something works, who has improved their team's work because it motivated them personally. Professionalism means doing what you know is right, whether asked or not.

Experience

Real experience shows in:

• Recognizing bad practices at first glance.
• Personal stories from legacy systems and legacy code.
• Taking responsibility - including outside working hours.
• Self-reflection about decisions they would no longer make.
• Ability to make informed decisions and quantify tradeoffs.

Professionalism + Experience should be reflected in salary. Do not fall into the trap of the "average senior salary" if the value is above average.

Value

Instead of chasing buzzwords, explore what successful global digital companies actually do:

• Market and competition research.
• Observing how customers actually use your product.
• Verifying assumptions with metrics and A/B tests.
• Define a goal and multiple ways to reach it.
• Recognize and eliminate the 7 wastes of software development.

Leadership

Bring people into leadership positions who already know what the organization should look like and give them the opportunity to make significant decisions. There is no more old leadership. If you find a consultant who was a significant part of a digitally successful company competing in the global market, undertake a pilot project with them.