One problem with SOP's is that rather like Topsy they have grown and grown to the extent that there seems a procedure for everything - not only the important stuff but also the downright trivial and mundane. A generation of pilots who have known only one way of operating for just one Company believe that the SOP is the panacea for all evils. In reality they are a great building block towards safe aircraft operation but they do not cover all eventualities as I'm sure the likes of Capt Cheeseburger would testify. Sometimes you just have to utilise all that experience and commonsense that you have built up over a career to sort the problem; not easy for the new troops however who have no such background and to whom SOP's apparently have all the answers.
Should we employ SOP's - yes, of course. Should the training department allow themselves free rein to perscribe an SOP for every piece of minutiae in our everyday operation - no.
There used to be an expression - 'Minimum SOP's Maximum adherence' - I think that still has some value - discuss !