My observations on SOPs, for what they are worth;
Reading through the accident reports attributed to Pilot/Crew Error mentiones failure to follow Company SOPs as a contributary factor in the vast majority of cases. Adherence to SOPs would mean many lives saved over the years. When the report mentions adherence, they often qualify it with the word 'strict'. I bow to the AIB and their extensive knowledge so would advise 'strict adherence' as being your safest bet, in all and every situation, normal or abnormal.
Many years ago I joined an airline whose SOPs amounted to two sides of A4, and not so closely typed at that. They had never had an accident nor any serious incident but that didn't make them safe in my eyes. When my Check Captain retracted the flaps from 15 to 5 immediately after he had raised the gear for me after a performance restricted Take Off, he explained to a very surprised and somewhat scared Captain under training that; 'we don't need all that drag'. Needless to say, I struggled against ignorance and redneck indifference over the next few years to slowly introduce Boeing SOPs to the company.
If your attitude to your company's SOPs is that they get in the way of your ability to conduct the flight with the freedom and joi de vivre you previously enjoyed then you are the very pilot who needs them the most.
SOPs will save you and your colleagues from the grasping hands of ignorance and arrogance, coulped with bad procedures and lax discipline. Ignore them at your peril.
That is not to say they are perfect. Too often I see procedures that have pilots stating such idiocy as 'Indications Normal', or 'Two Reversers' (on a twin). Just what is the reason for stating that what we expect to occur has in fact occured? Anomalies or abnormalities should be stated, not normal operations of systems.
In spite of such inadequacies, I still urge you to follow SOPs, strictly. If you want to fly any othert way, persuade your colleagues and Management that your way is better, safer and less silly than the present system.
Happy Landings and
a safe and standard 2007