R&D dysfunction typically comes down to people

Many of the dysfunctions I see in companies failing to build a high-performance R&D team can be boiled down to some combination of the following...

1. An engineering leader that is TOO opinionated and/or too concerned with technology

2. A product leader that is NOT opinionated enough and/or not sufficiently articulate about what they're trying to achieve and why

3. A senior leadership team that isn't listening to their engineering or product leaders or is failing to either a) hire better people or b) get them help in the form of coaches/advisors.