Carol Bartz, still the relatively new CEO of Yahoo, went on record today saying she would have given the company to Microsoft for their original asking price.  Here's the quote...

If Carol Bartz were Yahoo's CEO when Microsoft was offering $33-$34 per share for the company last year, would she have taken the deal that Jerry Yang shot down?

"Well, sure. You think I'm stupid? I mean, let me see... $15, $34, yeah, I think so," she said on CNBC this morning.

Now I don't disagree with her.  I think Yahoo should have taken the deal.  But it's just not something you say at this point.  Let me explain...

As much as I like to think of myself as a "just get the job done" type of guy my experience in software development has taught me a very important lesson.  Great software products only happen when those who are building them feel passionate about the job. 

Because there's not just one way to develop software.  Architects, Engineers, and other professions that build things tend to have a blueprint for what they're doing.  An Architect, for example, knows where to put the doors and windows based on specifications given to them by the person initiating the job.   An Engineer knows where to place components based on heat distribution.  And so on...

Software developers on the other hand are out in the wilderness.  There are a million different opinions regarding proper UI design and proper coding technique.  So a software developer has to be dedicated to sift through those techniques and determine how to do a job properly.  At the same time it's very easy for a software developer to just "phone it in" designing a program as they go along.

Which is why it's imperative to make your software designers feel like they are doing something important.  Because that's how you get them to  put forth the effort required to do it right.

Ms. Bartz statements do just the opposite of that.  By saying she would have jumped at the acquisition offer she's basically framing the company as something she'd get rid of all together if she could.  She's lessening it in the eyes of the world by representing it as an acquisition target rather than a company that's actually trying to accomplish big things.  That sends a message to her developers that basically says "I don't think all that much of you or this company"

That's not a message that will bring out the best in her developers.