Flashback

Having the situational awareness to capitalize on quirks of your unique scenario using the environment (I use low gravity to lift a rock and make cover) or some niche feature interaction (can I mine the earth elemental?) is core to table top, so sectioning it off as a mechanic feels odd.

Instead to represent your intelligent character's scheming, you can flash back a few minutes into the past to perform a simple and subtle item interaction that can improve your scenario. Things like placing inconspicuous objects in specific places, locking or unlocking doors or reactivating traps are good uses of flashbacks. Things like casting persistent spells, preparing attacks and using magic items are bad examples of flashbacks. Don't let your players do this. The idea is to make your character feel like they plan for things, not give them an extra standard action.

Flashbacks can be done as an instant action once per minute. Some actions may require skill checks (such as the aforementioned locking and unlocking) but not all should.