Since when was it about winning?
You're quite right SR-71, Good training has nothing to do with winning or losing, that was a poor choice of words.
and asked the non-handling pilot for the “Autopilot disconnect checklist”
But smart comments have little benefit in the sim when we are all working towards the same goal. Just bad CRM.(Now there's another topic!!)
The only QRH's I am familiar with are Boeing's and you can't go far wrong following the Recall/QRH items as laid down by them. Granted, some extreme scenarios (the sort only a cunning Sim instructor can dream of) will require some thinking "out of the box" and require airmanship (or CRM if you will). But as a rule, if it isn't a recall drill, then don't do it from memory, do it from the checklist because under stress even the simplest drill can go wrong.
Going back to the original topic, SOP's, poor SOP's can be extremely dangerous. The amount of writing in the manuals does tend to increase proportionally with the size of company. The better ones are sometimes found in small companies where everyone knows everyone else and is certain of the high standards within the workforce. As the pilot complement increases the range of abilities increases and SOP's grow. The less is written down, the more flexibility it gives crews to use their judgement but it doesn't work in a large company and sadly everyone is looking to cover their backs for the odd occasion when it goes wrong.
At the end of the day, if you find that you are working around an SOP rather than working to it, it often means the SOP isn't right and needs to be changed. A responsible training department is meant to protect line pilots from that sort of occasion.