Line up your dominoes
Knock down one right thing and it builds momentum to topple progressively bigger ones.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Knock down one right thing and it builds momentum to topple progressively bigger ones.
- Why it works: Progress is sequential: completing the right small thing builds the capability, confidence, and conditions that make the next, larger thing achievable — the way a small domino can topple a much bigger one. Focusing on the next correct domino, rather than trying to move everything at once, lets accomplishments compound instead of dissipating across scattered effort.
- Evidence: Plausible mechanism, limited direct outcome data.
- Avoid: Trying to topple the biggest domino directly or push many at once, instead of completing the small right action that makes the next one possible.
Why it works
Progress is sequential: completing the right small thing builds the capability, confidence, and conditions that make the next, larger thing achievable — the way a small domino can topple a much bigger one. Focusing on the next correct domino, rather than trying to move everything at once, lets accomplishments compound instead of dissipating across scattered effort.
How to do it
- 1Identify the first, smallest right action rather than the whole sequence.
- 2Complete it, then let it set up the next slightly larger action.
- 3Keep your attention on the current domino, trusting momentum to handle the chain.
What the evidence says
MechanisticAn illustrative metaphor backed loosely by self-efficacy and "small wins" research — early successes raise confidence and lower the perceived cost of bigger steps. The "geometric" domino claim itself is a vivid illustration, not a measured effect.
Honest caveat: The domino imagery overstates predictability; real progress is messier, but the core point — sequence and compounding — is sound.
- — Weick (1984), "Small Wins", American Psychologist
Common mistake
Trying to topple the biggest domino directly or push many at once, instead of completing the small right action that makes the next one possible.
IX Coach helps you find the next correct domino — the smallest right step — and keeps your focus there, so progress compounds instead of scattering.
Practice this with IX Coach →