What is Domino?

Domino is a word that can mean both the mathematical polygon and a game of flat rectangular blocks with a single side bearing from one to six pips or dots. The most common set consists of 28 dominoes, and the usual way to play the game involves matching the ends of pieces and laying them down in lines and angular patterns.

Lily Hevesh has been fascinated by dominoes since she was 9 years old and began collecting them. She enjoys setting up the pieces in straight or curved lines, flicking them with her finger and watching them fall. But her passion for dominoes has gone much farther than that; she’s now a professional domino artist who creates spectacular setups for movies, TV shows and even events, including an album launch for pop star Katy Perry.

When it comes to the physics of how a domino falls, the key factor is gravity. A domino that’s standing upright has potential energy, or stored energy based on its position, which is converted to kinetic energy when it is tilted and then to heat energy as it continues to fall. It’s this conversion of energy that causes the domino to continue falling, creating a chain reaction.

The first domino that’s tipped over has more momentum than the ones that follow, but they all have the same amount of energy because they are moving in the same direction. Dominoes with the same number of pips on one end belong to the same suit. Each suit has a specific value, and the pips are added or subtracted from the total score to determine winnings.

Aside from blocking and scoring games, dominoes can also be used to play solitaire or trick-taking games, most of which are adaptations of card games that were once popular in certain areas because they circumvented religious prohibitions on playing cards. The earliest known use of the term domino appears to be in China in the 12th century, and the earliest European dominoes were made from bone, silver lip oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or a dark hardwood such as ebony with black or white pips inlaid or painted.

In business, domino can refer to a company’s leadership structure or the process of a company’s leaders making decisions. The Domino’s pizza chain has a well-defined leadership structure, with the CEO participating in employee training and visiting restaurants to see how they operate. This approach has helped the company achieve high customer satisfaction levels.

The word can also describe a person who has an innate ability to take charge and motivate others. This is what makes many leaders successful, and this is the type of leadership that Domino’s looks for in its employees. The company uses its Undercover Boss series to showcase these types of leaders and how they manage their teams. Its leadership theory focuses on what a leader does rather than who they are, and its managers look for people with strong leadership skills.