Domino is a game in which players attempt to create chains of domino pieces by placing them on the table in a careful sequence. Each domino has a number displayed on one side and is blank or identically patterned on the other side. Each domino is referred to as a “tile.”
The word domino comes from the Latin domine, meaning “master,” which may refer either to the master of a house or to a master builder in the ancient world. It also may have a similar meaning in some languages, such as the Spanish word for master, dominador, which is used to refer to a master craftsman or master builder in various industries.
When a person or business experiences a setback, it can have a domino effect, or the effect of tripping and toppling other things in its path. For example, if someone loses their job and has trouble finding another, it can have a negative impact on family members who also might lose their jobs.
In business, a change in leadership can have a domino effect as well, affecting employees and customers alike. The success of a company often depends on its leaders and how they respond to challenges.
A dominant business strategy can help a struggling company to recover and thrive. In the case of Domino’s, its new CEO took steps to revive the pizza chain’s fortunes by focusing on key values such as listening to customers.
He brought in a new management team that made significant changes to the company’s culture and emphasized training employees. He also encouraged a line of communication with managers to ensure that employees felt heard and understood.
As a result, Domino’s saw an immediate rise in sales and customer satisfaction levels. The company is now the largest pizza franchise in the United States with more than 2,600 locations.
In the world of dominoes, there are many different games that can be played. The most popular are blocking and scoring games, but there are also a number of other, less-known games that can be played with dominoes.
Dominoes can be carved from wood (such as mahogany or oak), bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell or mother of pearl, ivory, or a dark hardwood such as ebony. They can be painted, stained or inlaid with contrasting black or white dots, known as pips, to distinguish each domino from the others in a set.
The earliest domino sets were functionally identical to playing cards, which developed in China in the 12th or 13th century. Later, the chinese invented dominoes by standardizing the markings on the tiles and by standardizing the way the pieces were arranged in a set. Typically, the identity-bearing side of each domino is marked with an arrangement of spots, or pips, that resembles the face of a die. The other side of each tile is usually blank or identically patterned. Some examples of these early Chinese dominoes can still be seen today in a collection at the National Museum of Natural History in Beijing.
