My team was destroyed by a head count grab with no respect to any investment in what we were doing. Lots of teams got destroyed by this. The personal development plan stuff is just not worth doing. It can be much less hassle and stress to get hired as a principal then promoted to one. Though this is common in a lot of companies, they try and use their PDP stuff to create a perfect hire even if it puts someones future employment opportunities in a cul-de-sac.