I think we all agree that nitpicking the petty is more detrimental than good. It can become a pecker measuring contest as to who can regurgitate the most.
However, I still go back to the WHY. Back in the late 80’s & early 90’s the NYC subway crime rate was reduced dramatically by looking at the bigger picture. They re-assessed going after the muggers, vandals & assault assailants & focused on the fare dodgers. The ones jumping the turnstiles, etc. The psychology behind it was that the TYPE of person who’d commit petty crime was also the TYPE who’d potentially be guilty of other crimes. It worked. They also removed all evidence of graffiti nightly so the crime wasn’t visiable & thus setting a culture of it being stopped before it spread. After all, the graffiti vandals want notoriety for their actions so they stopped it.
So a pilot who can’t / won’t / unable to follow SOPs may also have the traits contributing to potential worse lapses of procedure. My experience of a guy refusing to follow basic checklist protocols and then having some hairbrained completely off the chart RTO philosophy proves a point.
The same type of intstructor who obsesses over getting the lights & seat belt signs on before performing an emergency descent would also force questions to be asked about his traits as an instructor.
Lastly, and well pointed out above, for the life of me I cannot fathom why crews often deliberately breach SOPs & therefore leave themselves open to liability in the event of an incident or accident. The insurance companies, lawyers & bean counters will persistantly & aggressively hunt for ANY way to attribute blame elsewhere & avoid financial penalty. SOP non compliance an easy target if related. Why do it to yourself?
Common sense & airmanship. Two traits fast becoming a rarity.