I wasn't clear in my OP: there was poor communication on both sides here. I was receiving mixed messages, with the company's VP basically claiming I wasn't able

I wasn't clear in my OP: there was poor communication on both sides here. I was receiving mixed messages, with the company's VP basically claiming I wasn't able to deliver anything good enough and my immediate boss telling me to kind of punt on the thing. In retrospect I should have dug more deeply. Actually in retrospect I should have started looking for another job, since the VP line-jumping the team lead is a sign of insanely dysfunctional politics.