Dominoes are small black and white rectangles that can be used for a number of different games. Some people like to stack them in long lines, knocking them down one at a time. Others have fun laying them out to make patterns or playing a game that requires players to collect pairs of dominoes.
In each tile there is a number of dots or pips, and a domino set usually includes 28 tiles. These tiles have various nicknames, such as “bones,” “tickets” or “tiles.”
Each domino has an identity-bearing face, with the same identifying mark on both ends. Some dominoes have blank faces, and some tiles are patterned differently.
There are several different types of domino sets, ranging from small sets for children to large sets for play with multiple players. The most common commercially available sets are double six (28 tiles) and double nine (55 tiles).
Some games have rules requiring a specific number of tiles to be played. These include a variation of the block game called draw, and the Chinese version Tien Gow. In the draw game, a player must choose a sleeping domino to add to their set. This may be an easy choice or a difficult one, depending on the circumstances.
To play a game of dominoes, two or more people take turns placing tiles on a table. The first person to place a domino, or “lay” a tile, must do so without placing any more.
Once a domino has been laid, it cannot be removed until the next player’s turn. When a player plays all of his or her tiles, the game is over.
If a player does not play all of his or her tiles, the other players must try to lay all of theirs, which is called “knocking.” The player who has knocked is the winner of the game, unless a point is awarded in some rules.
The domino effect is the idea that changing one habit can create a cascade of related behaviors, sometimes leading to an entirely new way of living. This is particularly true for people who are trying to lose weight or change their eating habits.
For example, a 2012 study from Northwestern University found that when participants cut back on their sedentary leisure activities, they also decreased their daily fat intake. The change in activity led to a change in their daily food intake as well, which in turn improved their overall health.
In this way, the domino effect can be seen as a powerful tool for helping individuals make permanent changes in their lives. For instance, when Jennifer Dukes Lee began making her bed each day, she started to believe in herself more and built new identity-based habits around maintaining a clean and organized home.
When the same domino effect was applied to a business, it became a powerful tool for reorienting a company’s mission and culture. This is how Bethlehem Steel, the largest independent steel producer in the world, was able to break out of its longstanding mold of corporate culture and focus on the needs of its customers.