The best riders, are thinking riders. Their style is hopefully like the proverbial swan on the water - lovely flow, quietly efficient, nothing seems hurried or rushed whatever the pace, but their brain is
always working and thinking, it's just that like the swan's feet, you don't see it.
So (*nearly) nothing, should be a black and white 'I do this', and everything should be a 'what's the best thing to do here'.
As a result, you could find scenarios on the road that are almost identical to one another, but in one situation you'll do one thing, and in another situation you'll maybe do something else.
My personal battle with a lot of the observers and RoSPA / IAM riders that I see, is getting them to move on to the next level where riding moves from 'dot to dot' / 'paint by numbers' very systematic riding, to a 'wholistic' approach for want of a better word. A style that is still systemised, but it's not set by a rule book - the rule book is now well and truly thrown away.
Black and white answers to any of these questions, is .... the wrong answer!
Somebody asks, 'should I show a brake light?'. The answer to that is, Maybe? Whose behind you? How long has he been behind you? Have you noticed something in particular about him? Is he up your arse? what car is it? Is he on the phone? And so on and so on.
Sometimes I might add a hand signal to back something up, because my gut instinct says its the right thing to do here. Sometimes (scenario above) I very deliberately indicate for a good few seconds
before showing a brake light - deliberately separating the two bulbs so my intentions are very clear. Ever think about something like that on a sunny day ?? (Think about things like a Mondeo with its circular brake light and indicator light in the middle, and a driver indicating and braking at the same time).
If you were on an IAM / RoSPA test, and you had the above mindset, any examiner worth his salt would hopefully say to you afterwards 'I like the fact that you're clearly a thinking rider - I noticed how you didn't indicate in W, X, y scenario, but you did in Z because of A, B, C factors' Good! Good to see you thinking about stuff'.
(*nearly); I try and ride with very few chess moves. Pretty much everything is 'What's the best thing to do here', 'whats the best way to achieve what I want here'. I do have one or two Default, black and white chess moves and looking over my shoulder as I join a motorway / dual-carriageway from a slip (car or bike) for example, is one of them.