Dominoes are small rectangular blocks used as gaming pieces. They usually feature two square ends, each either blank or marked with one to six dots resembling those on dice. A set of 28 such dominoes, also known as a deck or pack, forms the foundation for several games.
Lily Hevesh, 20, has been making mind-blowing domino setups for years. Her YouTube channel, Hevesh5, has more than 2 million subscribers. She’s worked on projects for TV shows, movies, and a Katy Perry album launch.
Hevesh says her creations are possible because of simple physics. She starts with a theme or purpose for the project and brainstorms images or words that might fit. Next, she creates a sketch of the layout. She’s careful to mark where she will place each domino, and she considers the route the dominoes will take. She then starts building the foundation. Hevesh has created a domino art process, which she calls “domino engineering.” The final result is a dazzling display that is built to last, with each step carefully planned to create a particular effect.
When she’s finished with the drawing, Hevesh checks it for any potential problems or issues that could cause the dominoes to fall out of place. Then she goes over the design, noting where she might have to place a piece or rework a path. She also calculates how many dominoes she’ll need for the design, which helps her determine where to place the first domino.
Once she’s done planning, Hevesh places the first domino in its correct position. When the domino is firmly in place, she begins adding the other pieces. As each domino is added, the nudges it receives from gravity and friction push it toward its destination. This force is referred to as “potential energy.” The final nudge from gravity converts this potential energy into kinetic energy, the energy of motion. It’s this energy that allows each domino to knock over the next.
The domino principle is a powerful tool that can be used in your personal and professional life. It’s a way of identifying one thing you can work on that will help move other parts of your life forward. For example, when you make a habit of exercising more, you’ll naturally start to improve other aspects of your health. One small change can have a dramatic impact.
Domino’s, the pizza delivery company founded by Tom Monaghan in 1965, is an excellent example of the domino principle at work. The company experienced rapid growth in its early years, but the chain struggled to maintain profitability after Monaghan left in 1977. Attempts to introduce new pizza items and expand the company into other areas of business were unsuccessful, and Domino’s soon found itself in financial trouble.
In 2004, Domino’s was more than $943 million in debt, and the future of the company looked bleak. Nevertheless, Domino’s kept going, and the new leadership team vowed to revive the struggling business with a strategy known as the Domino Effect. This was based on the concept that one small victory can trigger a chain reaction that leads to other victories, just as one domino falling over causes the rest to topple.