Working on that big hospital job in Tacoma made me stop using power trowels for the first pass

Everyone on the crew swore by hitting the slab with the power trowel as soon as it could take it. But on that job, the specs were crazy strict about no crazing or burn marks. I saw three guys get their work torn out for it. So I tried something different and just walked it with magnesium floats for the first two passes. It took an extra 45 minutes per section, but the finish was way more even and the inspector signed off with zero notes. Now I do it on every high-spec job, even if the old timers give me grief. Anyone else had to go against the grain on a method because the project demanded it?