I guess what the above posts are leading to is something along the lines of ..
(a) brief and anticipate what is likely to occur and/or what may have an adverse risk consequence if it does occur (eg one needs to know what the SID is all about while having a parallel capability in the event of any of the usual set of takeoff emergencies while, at the same time, not setting up the situation for an inappropriate anticipatory response)
(b) practise (where and when appropriate) to develop and maintain a useful manipulative and systems knowledge skill set .. get those aspects of that skill set (which are relevant) to the point where they become largely automatic so that the cognitive bits of the brain can be directed on the day more to management, assessment, and decision making rather than trying to keep up with the basic aeroplane driving and switchology things.
(c) avoid loading up the manager (and this is what the pilot is .. and always has been... whether we like it or not) .. because this will degrade management capability .. (ie one ought not to add optional physical/mental activities when such are inappropriate to the circumstances)
(d) be ruthless in exploiting all the potential for assistance which you have .. whether that be flight crew, autopilots, cabin crew, ATC, etc., etc ... in a manner and to the extent appropriate in the circumstances
.. and I'm sure that we could all add a few more bits to flesh out the philosophy ..