R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it Quotes

“Finally, the marketplace is a cruel mistress, but she never lies.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“Each time you walk down the aisle of your Home Depot or Walgreens, try to remember that behind every label and package is someone’s heart and soul, and that efforts in man-years or decades are behind each product.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“Finance and I adored each other, which is how it should be—a true partnership rather than a suspicious overlord protecting the company’s cash from spendthrifts.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“I was pleasantly surprised that communication and cultural barriers were not limiting. Everyone from around the world went out of their way to communicate across time zones and language barriers, and never lost focus on winning as the key objective. Sure there was occasional friction and fear of job loss, but we found ways to put these behind us. I give special credit to the key R&D and business leaders in each region for ownership and accountability for making their groups relevant and effective.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“One of the keys to the successful global transformation was to ensure that each location had unique capabilities and roles.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“By now you know the drill—build a lab, hire a very senior expert, add bunch of people from customers, suppliers, and universities, bring in a few ex-pats to staff the place, go through some growing pains and learning curves, make some missteps and mistakes and most likely, in two or three years—we will see some positive impact.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“Lawyers want to avoid liability and patent fights; Manufacturing wants to avoid investment and cost; Quality wants to avoid scrap and testing; Sales wants to avoid cannibalization; Regions want to avoid transfer costs; Logistics wants to avoid bottlenecks and transportation costs; Finance wants to avoid everything that costs money or has risk.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“But that’s OK—we researchers know that everyone in Sales is an order-taker while we do the heavy lifting, and that everyone in Finance is a bean-counter.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“Networking in science is just as important as networking in business. Especially with the explosion and divergence of knowledge, collecting a bunch of smart friends is a real differentiator.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it

“In sales, they say, “When you have made the sale, stop talking.” In R&D, when you have solved the problem, stop working.”
― Clifford Spiro, R&D is War- and I've Got the Scars to Prove it