ISO 9000
Ian, I don't believe that ISO quality and management systems are really too applicable to pilots, perhaps more to aircraft maintenance, etc.
Normally ISO systems work well, such as in factories, where it is important that the employees do exactly what their job is every time. Of course, there are many ways within that system that employees can initiate changes and improvements to their particular processes, but only after review that is not instantaneous. But day in, day out, what works best is that they do what is written in their SOP's for that job.
However, seems to this non-pilot that while pilots have to have guidelines, checklists, etc., their qualifications and training has to be at a high enough level that they can handle the emergencies that can arise and may not be covered in a manual or a procedure.