It is a continual source of frustration for many scientists to be working on a challenging project and then be assigned to something else. But they are often exchanging grant applications for an environment in which they must justify their salaries on a daily basis. Industry places a high value on results. In the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey details some of the differences that I have described between academia and industry. Although he does not use examples in his text from the field of science, I am sure you would agree with me that he describes many of the differences between these two environments.
Covey describes the evolution between dependency, independence, and interdependence.
In your early studies, you were completely dependent on those around you for your education, your lifestyle, and just about everything else. Your parents or support system, and then your professor or mentor, were critical to you over those years. The uppermost goal for those in the academic world is pure independence. But this isn't the way industry works. Industry thrives on interdependence.