On the website of The Systems Thinker you will find a very interesting article about the basics of causal loop diagrams.
See: The Systems Thinker – Causal Loop Construction: The Basics – The Systems Thinker
The article is written by COLLEEN LANNON.
She is using an example of TotalQuality Management. First she is looking for the variables. Next she is drawing links ( Same / Opposite) After labeling the loops ( Balance or Reïnforce ), the story telling begins.
In ‘our’ model it will look like this:
As you can see, in this model you can ‘play’ the story. Try it yourself.