A domino is a flat, thumb-sized rectangular block with one face that’s blank or carries an arrangement of dots or spots—”pips”—similar to those on a die. A domino is a key component in many games that can be played by two or more players. The game’s rules often require a player to place the last domino in a line or a curved pattern. The first domino to fall sets off a chain of events that can continue for a long time.
Domino is also the name of the popular board game, in which you try to build a row of matching pieces before your opponents do. The first person to complete the row wins.
But the domino effect isn’t limited to games. In a business setting, it can refer to any series of events that lead to a desired outcome. When someone sees a colleague succeed in a new endeavor, it creates a positive energy that can spread throughout the company. When a sports team wins a big competition, it can inspire a domino effect of goodwill in the community.
The term “domino” has been in use since the 18th century, when it was applied to a type of tile used in games of chance and skill. Early dominoes had a square base with a circle in the center and a number of raised or colored dots, called pips, on each corner. More modern sets of dominoes have a round base and more evenly spaced pips.
In the mid-1800s, European immigrants brought domino to the United States where it became a popular pastime among children and adults. The popularity of the game spread worldwide, and by the early 20th century, dominoes had become a cultural icon.
Domino’s, a pizza delivery company, is known for embracing innovation in technology to better serve its customers. The company has developed a smartphone app that allows people to order by texting an emoji or using voice command on devices like Amazon Echo.
It also has invested in custom-built pizza-delivery vehicles and experimented with drone delivery. The company’s CEO, Domino’s founder Dave Brandon, has promoted the value of listening to employees as a way of improving the company.
The success of Domino’s innovation in pizza delivery has led to a boom in similar businesses that allow consumers to order food by text or with devices like Amazon Echo. These innovations show that the domino effect is not just a physical phenomenon, but one that can have a profound impact on society. Whether the effect is good or bad, it has been driven by the desire to make something happen and a belief that what happens next can be predicted. This is what makes the domino effect so exciting. The excitement comes from the fact that every domino can be tipped by one person—or by one small action—and that little action, when it’s repeated, can have a cascading, life-changing effect. This is why the Domino Effect is such a powerful and important concept to understand.