Dominoes are flat, thumb-sized blocks that are typically arranged on end to form long lines. When one is tipped over, it causes the next domino to tip and so on until the entire row collapses. Dominoes can be used to play a variety of games, including blocking and scoring ones. They also can be arranged to form 2D shapes and 3D structures such as towers and pyramids. They can even be arranged to create intricate patterns. The name domino is derived from the Latin word for “falling one after another.” The term has been adopted as a metaphor to describe any series of events that start with a small trigger and then cascade into much larger consequences. It is this phenomenon that gave rise to the idiom domino effect, which is now applied to any situation in which one event leads to a sequence of increasingly serious outcomes.
When Hevesh first started creating her intricate domino displays, she was fascinated by the way the pieces moved in a seemingly effortless manner. But she soon realized that there was actually a lot of science involved. “You have to know a lot about the way physics works,” she says. “You need to understand friction, you have to understand gravity, and you have to understand how energy is converted from one source to another.”
Unlike a playing card, a domino has only two faces. Its identity-bearing side has an arrangement of dots or pips, similar to those on a die, while the other face is blank or identically patterned. The total number of pips on a domino is known as its value. Larger sets may use more readable Arabic numerals instead of pips. Each domino is usually twice as long as it is wide. Before a game begins, the dominoes are shuffled and placed so that each player can’t see the other players’ tiles. The resulting collection is known as the boneyard.
After Domino’s had a difficult time in the mid-1990s, its CEO David Brandon knew that something had to change. He refocused the company on its core values, which included championing its customers. This meant listening to their feedback, introducing new training programs, and revamping the company’s college recruiting system. Brandon also encouraged employees to speak openly with management about their concerns. This open line of communication was carried forward by Doyle and his management team when he took over the company.
As a result, Domino’s is now a leader in the fast-food industry and an excellent example of the domino effect in action. The company has a strong culture of customer-centricity, which allows it to make quick changes that impact the entire organization. The company is also making a major investment in new technologies to ensure it can continue to deliver high-quality products and services to its customers for the foreseeable future.
Whether you compose your manuscript off the cuff or adhere to a strict outline, thinking about the domino effect can help you craft a compelling story that holds up under scrutiny. Ultimately, the fate of a story depends on how well you can answer the question, What happens next?