Domino’s has built a solid reputation on its ability to respond quickly and effectively to customer feedback. Their CEO takes it seriously, and often goes out in the field to see how things are run in person. For example, in the show Undercover Boss he spends time working in several of their delivery service locations. He looks at the way they manage their delivery drivers and listens to customer complaints. After hearing what the employees have to say he puts into place changes that are implemented right away.
The domino effect is a popular phrase that describes any action that causes other actions to happen. For example, if a woman leaves her husband and moves to another city, it will likely cause other women in the area to leave their spouses as well. In other words, the first domino has fallen and others are soon to follow.
Dominoes are small, thumb-sized rectangular blocks, typically twice as long as they are wide, with a line down the middle dividing it visually into two square ends, each bearing an arrangement of spots, called pips, that can range from one to six. Each end is usually numbered with a value of 0 or 1, while the center is either blank or marked with a suit (e.g., hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades). A standard set consists of 28 dominoes.
During the mid-18th century, dominoes were introduced into the West from Italy and France, where they were probably first used for positional games involving matching the ends of pieces or laying them down in lines and angular patterns. The name “domino” comes from Latin dominus, meaning lord or master.
In writing, the concept of a domino effect is a good one to keep in mind. Specifically, if you are a pantser—that is, you don’t make detailed outlines of your plot ahead of time—you may find that scenes in your novel fall out of order or don’t have enough logical impact on the scene preceding them.
Think of your story as a series of dominoes that are falling in a rhythmic cascade. Each domino represents a scene in your book, and each must connect to the scene before it to create a smooth flow.
The joy of building a row of dominoes and watching one slight movement cause them all to fall is mesmerizing, but the frustration of knocking over a domino that you haven’t finished building is also relevant to learning challenges. If students compensate for their difficulties with certain skills, it can begin a chain reaction that keeps them from developing the essential competencies they need to succeed. In other words, the first domino falls, and then the next one, and then the next—it’s a vicious cycle that can lead to failure. Fortunately, there are ways to break this cycle and build a strong foundation for learning. By putting in place a few key strategies, students can get on the path to success.