Dominoes are a fascinating study in the chain reaction that occurs when one event triggers another. The game, which combines skill and luck, can be played on the floor or in the air, with straight or curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall or even 3D structures like towers and pyramids. But whether you’re a casual player or an expert builder, there’s no doubt that the concept of domino has far-reaching implications for real-life applications.
Domino theory
In the world of business, Domino’s Pizza CEO James Doyle knows how to set up a winning team. He started with a strong foundation and incorporated core values into his company’s culture and leadership training programs. He also implemented a new employee survey to find out exactly what people needed from the company, including better wages and more training opportunities. This open line of communication with employees was essential to Doyle’s success, and it helped him address the main complaint Domino’s had from customers.
A Domino Effect
The phrase “domino theory” has many different meanings, and its roots go back a long way. It’s been used to describe the occurrence of one event in a country or region that then leads to other events in a similar fashion, such as the collapse of the Salvador Allende regime in Chile and the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnam in 1961. This concept is based on the idea that once one domino falls, others will follow suit until the entire chain breaks.
It’s also been used to describe a series of strategic moves by the U.S. government to thwart the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, such as creating “deeply tight bilateral alliances” with Asian countries to help them “contain communist influence.” This strategy was known as the Domino Effect.
When you play domino, the first domino is a bit like an atomic bomb: it has potential energy that needs to be released through the action of knocking it over. As soon as that happens, most of that energy is converted to kinetic energy, the energy of motion, and some of it is transmitted to the next domino, providing the push it takes to bring that piece down, and so on until the last domino tumbles over.
Dominoes have been a popular pastime for centuries, and there are hundreds of games that can be played with them. From scoring games, such as bergen or muggins, to blocking games, like matador, chicken foot, and Mexican train, there’s a lot of fun to be had with these simple yet complex pieces. Dominoes are a great tool for teaching math, pattern recognition, and fine motor skills. And they can be used to create some mind-blowing displays, too. Check out the amazing work of domino artist Hevesh below! It took her several nail-biting minutes to set up this circular domino design, but the results are spectacular. She uses a version of the engineering-design process to create her domino setups, and she’s worked on projects that use more than 300,000 pieces!
