Domino, also known as dominoes or domino pieces, are small flat blocks used for gaming. A domino has one or more pips (points) on each side, and can be used to form chains of tiles that must end with a matching set of pips. A domino chain can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Each domino has the potential to trigger a domino effect, which can cause other dominoes in the chain to fall over. Dominoes are typically made of clay, stone, wood, or polymer materials. They may be painted or decorated. Some have a smooth surface while others are textured or carved.
Most domino sets consist of 28 square pieces with pips printed on both sides, but larger sets can be purchased for more complex games. Unlike Chinese dominoes, which have blank faces, Western dominoes are grouped into suits of different numbers (e.g., 1, 3, 5, and 12).
The most common type of domino play involves “blocking” games, where a player places a domino edge-to-edge against another tile to form an ordered sequence of pips. Alternatively, dominoes can be played in “scoring” games, where the player tries to arrange tiles so that they form some specified total.
Some players choose to make a special domino suit that contains all of the pips except for one. This allows them to use a single domino to score a large number of points in one turn. Other players prefer to play with a mixed suit, where each domino has both pips and a blank side.
Many people have a fascination with dominoes and like to set them up in lines. Some even compete in domino competitions. The winner of a domino competition is the first to finish the line of dominoes.
In business, a domino effect refers to the way one activity can influence other activities. For example, if an employee spends a significant amount of time on a project that has a direct impact on the company’s bottom line, it can help to propel other initiatives at the same time. This is the concept behind many company incentive programs and other employee rewards.
The domino effect is often demonstrated by a simple demonstration involving one domino falling on top of another, triggering a chain reaction of additional dominoes that fall over as well. This is a popular video that demonstrates this phenomenon.
In a personal context, the domino effect is often used to describe the way that one positive behavior can inspire other positive behaviors in the same individual. For instance, if Jennifer Dukes Lee starts making her bed each day, she will likely continue this habit in other areas of her life. This type of behavior change can have the power to transform entire identity-based habits. In the case of dominoes, this means that changing one element of a person’s self-image can lead to new beliefs and other changes that build upon the original change. These are the types of changes that can have a powerful, positive ripple effect on an entire career.