Now that we have a few broad strokes on the personalities involved,courtesy of Cerebrus,the picture becomes clearer.
Pedantic book-worms dont mix well with the archetypal airmanship-oriented airline pilot.These pedants are usually unsure of their own abilities and seek refuge in the minutiae of the SOP manual as a defence mechanism.
Give me a pilot who knows his aircraft and who can extricate himself from a seemingly impossible situation using airmanship and improvisation(an often underrrated attribute for pilots).You can usually spot them.They might have a worn copy of the maintenance manual in their flight bag or they might spend twenty minutes in the hangar when the aircraft goes through a C check.Cognitive decision-making comes through experience and broad-based knowledge and understanding of the equipment you're operating.SOP rats excel through rote and very little imagination.Are SOP's important?Absolutely...but they have their place.Naturally,the two are not mutually-exclusive but one requires a cursory acknowledgement,the other is all-encompassing and saves lives.