Recipes are important, but not nearly as much as you may think. After awhile it becomes second nature. I'll refer to a home brew recipe if I've never made a style, or to old recipes if I haven't made something for awhile, but those just provide a skeleton. Personally (all brewers are different) I continually tweak a recipe and at least make notes for the next brew and it takes awhile to get a beer 'just right'.
There's a big controversy in the industry right now about whether the brewer 'owns' the recipe or if it 'belongs to' the brewery. A big part of brewing, for me, is mentally deconstructing beers I like and trying to emulate the pieces as I want
Personally, I look at it like my business partner who said 'the recipe for chocolate chip cookies is on the package but no one makes them like your grandma'.
Truly, way more of a beers' quality comes from process and fermentation. Solid technique and knowledge of your specific equipment coupled with impeccable cellar work is what really separates the excellent breweries from the good ones.
After 9 years pro brewing I feel like I'm just starting to get close to excellent based on that criteria.