Over years I moved toward thicker and smaller picks.
I predominately use Dunlop Jazz III (red) picks and a lot of the Dunlop small "Stubby" picks for lead work or tight funky single-note passages.
BUT.....
I keep a selection of picks on top of my amp and each offers a different feel and tone.
(Really no different from having a varied selection of stomp boxes on the floor)
I have several rather thin larger picks for old school rhythm work where the pick itself is part of the sound. In some styles a thin stiff pick just gets hung up in the strings or generates an unacceptable volume generated by force long before you're getting the sound you want. OR a small pick just doesn't have the area to allow some "slop" that is needed to grok the older early '70s funk styles authentically.
Raw fingers (sans pick) is also a major part of my playing.
One pick or style isn't "better" than another.....I need ALL the different options and I often change picks or discard the pick entirely in just one single song.
After years it simply becomes an automatic part of expressing what you hear in your head and getting that transferred directly to the guitar strings.
The two things I've sadly never gotten the hang of of are THUMB PICKS and METAL FINGER PICKS like pedal steel players use. I think there are some ideas I've left unexplored in that area.....but I'M OLD and set in my ways by now. OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS, etc.
