The Domino Effect is the tendency for one event to trigger or cause another, often in a chain reaction. When we play domino, we can see this effect in action. Every time a new piece is placed on the table, the old ones get knocked over, and the rest follow suit in a chain that can continue as long as there are enough dominos.
Domino is also the name of a series of games played with small, rectangular blocks called tiles. Each tile bears a pattern of dots or pips on one side and is blank on the other, or identically patterned. A set of dominoes consists of 28 such pieces, usually marked with a number of pips or dots on each end. These pips indicate the value of the domino when played, and they may be used to score points in some games.
When a player places a domino on the table, it must touch two adjacent matching ends (one’s touching one’s or doubles touching doubles) so that the domino chain develops a snake-line shape. Each subsequent piece placed to a domino must be placed perpendicular to the previous tile, with its ends fully touching it, or it is “stitched up.”
A domino game can be played with any number of players and in many different ways. Some games are scoring games, such as bergen or muggins, in which the total of all exposed ends shows who won. Other games involve blocking the opponents from making a play, such as matador or chicken foot. Many domino games help teach counting and number recognition.
There are countless variations on the basic rules of domino, and some people make elaborate setups to amaze their friends. For example, Hevesh Singh has built a set of dominoes so large that it occupies an entire room. Her setups are designed using a version of the engineering-design process, starting with the theme or purpose for the installation and brainstorming images or words that would be appropriate.
The word domino comes from the Latin dominus, meaning master or ruler. It is also the origin of the word dominator, which means “to dominate,” and the suffix -ono, which has come to mean something powerful or important.
Domino’s Pizza’s troubles arose from a series of missteps. The company had been trying to expand into a wider range of products, including sandwiches and pastas. But it was unable to make the transition quickly enough to offset the negative effects of a slow economy. The company was losing money at a fast pace.
In order to reverse its fortunes, Domino’s needed to adopt a new strategy. It adopted a more flexible management style, encouraging its leaders to listen to employees and respond to their needs. This approach helped them to identify problems, and also enabled the company to improve its marketing efforts by introducing new items that could not be delivered quickly through traditional delivery services.