I use git blame to find out who to talk to before doing a refactor. Often when I see something as clumsy, there's a good reason for it and it is nice to know who to ask.
Your comment reminded me of Chesterton's Fence http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2012/03/chesterton-fe... It has been written about a few hundred times in various blogs. Basically, if you don't see a reason, before you make changes think harder until you do.
