Systems Thinking: What is it and why does a tester need it?

To work successfully, a tester needs to go beyond the narrow task of checking software functions. A tester needs to imagine the usage of this software and its place in the activity, integration into the business level. And for checking the stability and performance — understand the hardware level. Finally, a tester must be skilled in designing a comprehensive suite of test cases that guarantees the software’s quality.

All these tasks need the ability to understand and build various models and ways to interface them with each other. A powerful tool that ensures such work is systems thinking. It is clear that it is impossible to talk about it in one talk, but my story will give an overview, and, more importantly, highlight the importance of systems thinking in the work of a tester. And, I hope, it will give impetus to a more in-depth study.