Lesson 8
Drawing Causal Loop Diagrams
Sketch a loop someone else can check: name the variables, sign each link against what would otherwise happen, and trace it to tell reinforcing from balancing.
Builds on
A sketch someone can argue with
A causal loop diagram (CLD) is a sketch of how a few things affect each other: words for the things that change, arrows for “this pushes on that”. Its value is that someone else can look at it and say “I don’t think that arrow is right”. Your reasoning is out on the page instead of in your head.
It isn’t a flowchart. A flowchart’s arrows mean “do this next”. A CLD’s arrows mean “a change here causes a change there”. Drawing an arrow doesn’t make the link real, and a simple arrow can’t show every threshold or limit, but it does make the claim specific enough to check.