Coming from a military background where SOPs were probably invented, they are nothing more than their title suggests - Standard Operating Procedures. Flexibility is essential and non-standard procedures are often used for this reason - that is why we use humans in the cockpit for goodness sake. As long as we all understand and know the standard way of operating we can choose to deviate provided that we inform each other along the way as necessary to stay safe.
The obedience of fools always causes trouble.