Why the PLwheel and PMwheel Are Not Benchmarking Tools
(And What They Are Really For)
Over the years, many product leaders and organizations have adopted the PMwheel and, just recently, the PLwheel to reflect on their leadership responsibilities, grow their teams, and guide meaningful development conversations. I’m deeply grateful for that—and it makes me incredibly happy to see these tools being used intentionally and with care.
But there’s one use case that keeps coming up—benchmarking—and it’s time for a very clear note on that:
The PLwheel and PMwheel were never designed for benchmarking.
They’re not for comparing product people against each other, not for comparing teams or departments, and not for scoring people in a way that ranks or stacks them.
Let me explain why.
These Tools Are for Reflection and Growth
Both the PLwheel and PMwheel are qualitative, context-sensitive, and subjective by design. They're meant to:
help individuals reflect on their own strengths and areas for growth.
enable supportive conversations between product people and their leads.
give structure to 1:1 development check-ins.
build self-awareness and define intentional growth paths.
They’re not made to produce universal “scores.” Why? Because…
Context Changes Everything
A “6 in discovery” for a PM at an early-stage startup with no UX researcher looks very different from a “6 in discovery” for a PM at a global enterprise with a full research ops team.
A product leader who scores herself low on “future vision” may actually be doing exactly the right thing—because her job right now is to fix what’s broken right now, like a hiring process that is taking too long and still failing to bring in the right talent or a go-to-market strategy that isn’t preparing the team for successful launches.
When you use these tools for benchmarking, you risk comparing people whose roles, realities, and responsibilities are not remotely alike.
Benchmarking Can Lead to Misuse—and Harm
Here’s what can happen when teams misuse my tools to benchmark people:
Psychological safety drops. People start worrying about being judged, not being honest.
Gaming begins. People overinflate scores to “look better,” instead of identifying real development areas.
Tools get weaponized. In the worst case, scores are used to justify performance decisions the tools were never intended to support.
That’s the opposite of what I created the PLwheel and PMwheel for.
What About Talent Assessment or Succession Planning?
There is a way these tools can support organizational conversations—when used with care.
Some companies have used PLwheel inputs as a conversation starter for their talent reviews or “succession planning conferences.” In these settings:
It’s not about the number.
It’s not about “who is better.”
It’s about making space for human judgment.
Leaders use the wheels to bring their observations to the table—and then discuss as a group where people shine, where they want to grow, and how the org can support that.
That’s human-centered. That’s useful. And even then: The tool should be one input among many—not the final answer.
Benchmarking vs. Maturity Models
I feel similarly about product maturity assessments, by the way.
In my highly opinionated guide, I talk about how maturity assessments are also best used to drive conversations, not to generate precise ratings that dictate transformation plans. (It’s a reflection tool, too—just at the org level.)
To Sum It Up
Here’s what the PLwheel and PMwheel are great for:
✔️ Self-assessment and reflection
✔️ Structured 1:1 conversations between managers and ICs
✔️ Development planning and coaching
✔️ Building a shared understanding of what good looks like
And here’s what they’re not for:
✖️ Comparing product managers across teams or regions
✖️ Ranking people against each other
✖️ Assigning scores for performance reviews
✖️ Using "averages" to diagnose team or org health
So if you’ve been using these tools as a mirror—to better understand yourself, your people, and your product organization—thank you. That’s exactly what they’re here for.
And if you're considering using them as a measurement stick—I hope this post helps you pause, reframe, and return to what they’re really about: supporting people, not scoring them.
Looking for more practical guidance? I’ve been collecting stories and case studies from people who are successfully using the PMwheel (in the way it’s intended). You can find those here.