I think you're making a number of assumptions about the size and maturity of the parent's organization; it could be just one person. With the right tools and p

I think you're making a number of assumptions about the size and maturity of the parent's organization; it could be just one person. With the right tools and processes, it's possible to build very successful companies with tiny engineering teams. Developers run queries against prod because there's nobody else to do so. The risk of mistakes is mitigated by the increased situational awareness and the developer quality and communication in 3-teams vs 30-teams. Neither approach is inherently 'wrong', although running a 30-person team the same way as a 3-person team (or vice versa) can have nasty consequences.