Domino’s, the largest pizza chain in the US, recently announced plans to expand its restaurants by 25,000 globally. The company’s growth strategy has been a success so far, but it isn’t without challenges. This week, the CEO of Domino’s shared some tips with investors about how to build a strong, sustainable business. His advice is that dominoes (and stories) need to be carefully spaced. They should be long enough to advance the plot and feel satisfying, but not so long that readers lose interest or become frustrated by slow-moving scenes.
Dominoes are usually twice as wide as they are tall. They feature a line in the middle to visually divide them into two squares, or ends, each bearing a number of spots, or “pips.” Depending on the game being played, either the left or right side of the domino may bear a value, while the other side may be blank or have no pips at all. The total number of pips on both sides is the domino’s rank or weight. The heaviest domino is generally considered to be a double six, while the lightest is a single four.
When a player places a domino, the open end must touch another tile that is already in the line of play. This arrangement is sometimes referred to as a string or a layout. Occasionally, the domino is considered to be a spinner, and can be played on all four sides. In other cases, the domino is a non-spinner and can be played only on two of its edges. The rules of the game determine whether a domino is a spinner or not.
While playing a game of domino, if a player doesn’t have a matching double, the next player must draw new hands. The player holding the heaviest tile then begins play. Alternatively, if a match is made, the player holding the domino with the higher ranking can start play by putting it down first.
In addition to the complexities of playing domino games, players can also create elaborate domino art. This can take the form of straight or curved lines, grids that make pictures when they fall, stacked walls, and 3D structures such as towers and pyramids. In these projects, the goal is to design an arrangement that will produce a desired effect when the dominoes are set up and then allowed to fall naturally.
One such artist, Lily Hevesh, has amassed more than 2 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, where she shares videos of her domino installations. Her creations include intricate displays for movies and events, including a Katy Perry album launch. Her biggest domino installations can take several nail-biting minutes to complete, but once they are in place, Hevesh is able to let the Domino Effect work its magic. When preparing for her projects, she often divides fractions to help her calculate how many dominoes she’ll need and how they should be arranged. This helps prevent accidental dominoes from knocking over the entire setup.
