Dominoes – Wonder of the Day
Domino:
A domino is a flat thumb-sized rectangular block, marked on one side with an arrangement of numbered dots or spots (usually from one to six) and blank on the other. A complete set consists of 28 tiles. Dominoes are used in a wide variety of games. They are most often played with two or more people. In general, players alternate placing dominoes onto a baseboard until they have formed a row or square. The first player to complete a row wins the game. Dominoes are also often used to train children in counting and basic addition.
Dominoes are most commonly made of wood, but can be constructed from other materials, such as bone or silver lip ocean oyster shell (mother-of-pearl); ivory; other natural stones, such as marble, granite or soapstone; metals, including brass and pewter; and ceramic clay. They can be painted, lacquered or glazed in various colors. Some sets are decorated with inlaid pips, or inlaid and painted with gold, silver or other paints. Some sets have a combination of materials such as bone, mother-of-pearl and ebony.
While most domino games involve blocking or scoring, there are other types of play as well. Some of these involve matching adjacent dominoes by total number of pips, such as in the match game or concentration. Some involve positioning the dominoes in a way that blocks opponents’ play, such as in matador or chicken foot. And some games are simply adaptations of card games, often played to circumvent religious prohibitions against playing cards.
The physics of dominoes is remarkable: A single domino can knock over something twice its size. This is what’s called the domino effect. It’s what makes a chain reaction like the one in the video so fascinating. It’s also what makes the fluttering of a domino on a table so captivating to watch.
Hevesh, the 20-year-old tinkerer who created today’s Wonder of the Day, has a similar fascination with the power of the domino. She creates stunning domino setups that take several nail-biting minutes to fall. She calls them “Domino Art” and has a YouTube channel where she posts her creations.
In business, domino is a term that refers to high leverage actions that have dramatic effects. Think of it like a coding script: A single action triggers a sequence of other actions.
For example, when someone flips over a domino in front of you at a party, it causes you to look at your own hand and think about the many other things you could do to make things better. That’s the kind of domino effect you want in your life, work and relationships.
The company Domino’s started with the goal of changing their culture to address this issue, which is why it was a key part of their turnaround campaign. They implemented new strategies, and in the end, it paid off. Their stock prices went up, and the company was successful for years to come.