We've learned to draw causal loop diagrams showing the structure of a system. Now we connect that structure to behaviour — the patterns a system produces over time.

This is the core claim of systems thinking: structure determines behaviour. If you know the feedback loops, delays, and stocks in a system, you can predict — at least qualitatively — what its behaviour-over-time (BOT) graph will look like.

A BOT graph is simple: time on the horizontal axis, the variable you care about on the vertical axis, and a line showing how it changes.