Very very good comments by 2LP.
It all comes down to (CRM) technique and not procedures. I too felt once very embaressed in the sim for one full minute figuring out why we were not climbing at a proper rate......
Before I switched to airline flying I was in a company which barely had SOP's. Due to the nature of the business it was no use really having them as every operation required different procedures depending on operational circumstances. So before start up there was some thinking to do how to handle a certain task. This made the whole crew very aware of the whole situation the airplane was in, from beginning till the end.
When I became a line pilot, in the beginning I was very relieved the whole operation was so "easy". Just start at step 1 and than do step 2 etc...... Till I realised bij incidents as above that I (and not only me) completely forgot the whole issue of flying (what situation am I in, and what situation am I gonna be next?). So I switched back to my "former" mind state of thinking about the "big picture" instead of the next step in the "call out" sequence. Especially when things are getting busy or not going as planned you're much more in control of the whole situation and "attention to detail" is always there in the right amount with the proper timing.
Unfortunately as I see it, most companies (and flying schools) train on procedures and not (CRM) techniques.