Dominoes are small rectangular blocks of rigid material used as gaming objects. They are also known as bones, pieces, men, or tiles. The word domino is derived from the Latin verb domini, meaning “to dominate.” They first appeared in France during the mid-18th century. They were introduced to England by French prisoners toward the end of that same period.
The game of domino is played by two or more players in a face-to-face fashion. Each player draws seven dominoes and then plays them into tricks. The player with the highest number of points (a multiple of five counts) wins. For example, a hand consisting of two doubles plus three other dominoes with all six dots arranged in a circle wins.
Hevesh’s mind-blowing domino setups are awe-inspiring. When she begins, she envisions the final design and brainstorms images or words that might appear in it. Then, she creates the layout of each domino in an engineering-design process. This is similar to the way that Hevesh approaches writing a story. When you write, the goal is to move your protagonist closer to the next goal or challenge, not just farther away from it.
The problem with Monaghan’s pizza delivery system was that it relied on the driver to stop at each house or office, and drivers often ran red lights in order to meet the 30-minute promise. This caused accidents that led to injuries and even deaths.
By 1979, Domino’s had to cease making the 30-minute promise because it was impossible to fulfill the commitment with so few stores. The company was also losing money.
Fortunately, the savvy Doyle saw an opportunity to revitalize the Domino’s brand. He stuck close to the core values, one of which was “Champion Our Customers.” Doyle opened up lines of communication by sharing comments from focus groups: “worst pizza I’ve ever had”; “the sauce tastes like ketchup.”
Domino also changed the company culture by promoting employee appreciation and offering more flexibility in work schedules. In addition, Doyle emphasized a renewed emphasis on training and leadership development. He was rewarded for his efforts by being named a Top Workplaces Leadership Award through the Detroit Free Press.
When you play a game of domino, the first bone in each hand must touch another bone at its exposed ends with matching colors, numbers, or other markings. If the two ends match, a point is scored; this is called playing that bone. The process is repeated until the last bone in a player’s hand is played, he or she calls “Out!” or “I win” and claims the winning hand.
Most domino games involve emptying a player’s hand while blocking opponents’ play. Some of them determine points by counting the pips, or spots, on a single domino. Still others use blocks to play a game that duplicates card games. There are hundreds of different domino games, but most involve some form of strategy. Dominoes are also popular toys and educational tools for teaching children about patterns, sequencing, and math.