Domino is a word used to describe any action that has a domino effect, meaning it leads to other events in a similar way. A domino can be a piece of art, a physical structure, or a metaphor for anything that falls one at a time. Writers use the concept of domino in many ways, but it is especially popular in novel writing to describe scenes that are in turn influenced by and influence each other. It’s not unusual for a single domino scene to be ineffective by itself, but when surrounded by other domino scenes it has an exponential effect.
The most common type of domino play uses layout games, which involve placing dominoes edge-to-edge so that their adjacent sides match each other or form some other total or pattern. The most commonly available sets have 28 tiles, although larger sets exist, such as double-nine (55 tiles). Some people enjoy creating domino artwork, with straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures when the dominoes fall, and stacked walls.
Most of the popular domino games require a large number of tiles, so they’re often played in groups or teams. Players take turns drawing from the stock, a stack of dominoes that forms the boneyard, and placing them on-edge in front of themselves. If a player draws more dominoes for his hand than he’s entitled to, the excess dominoes are removed from the boneyard and reshuffled before the next player draws his tiles.
The heaviest tile in a domino set begins play, as determined by the rules of the particular game being played. Alternatively, the winner of the last game begins play. In some cases, a tie may be broken by drawing new dominoes from the stock, and this is also the procedure for breaking ties in a game that’s already in progress.
Once a domino is struck, much of its potential energy converts to kinetic energy, which provides the push that knocks over the next domino. Some of this kinetic energy is passed on to the domino next to it, which provides the push for the one after that, and so on. The dominoes continue falling in this rhythmic sequence until the last one is knocked over.
Domino’s CEO David Brandon understood that he had to make changes before the company collapsed into a domino effect of employee dissatisfaction and poor customer service. He stuck with the company’s core values, including “Champion Our Customers,” and opened the lines of communication between leadership and employees. Among other things, he relaxed the dress code and offered more training programs for managers. Domino’s quickly turned around and was named one of the Top Workplaces in Michigan. It’s a lesson that any business can apply to its own processes.
