Whilst I understand Billiebob's dislike of "the attempt by a bunch of unemployable geeks, with degrees in underwater basket weaving, to surround a well proven technique to enhance flight safety in management yuckspeak and present it as something new." The problem is how do you teach the knowledge that is AIRMANSHIP in this day and age?
When Smith Barry was around airmanship was mostly gained by watching others make mistakes (and sometimes dying), making mistakes yourself and hands on training. They were simple machines flown with simple procedures. Airmanship was very much something acquired through experience.
Is still possible to learn Airmanship that way nowadays?
I think that pilots need to be taught how to understand and identify hazards, work out and prioritise risks, then act upon them. That is risk assessment in a nutshell.
By the way please note that I did not use the word Formal, although you may need a 'formal' approach to teach understanding.
Anyone can use a checklist - but understanding why the checks are there and if any are missing takes AIRMANSHIP (and some risk assessment skills).