The fountain outside the MELA conference rooms. Employing an ancient Syrian non-verbal communication technique, Rany subtly alludes to the old Arabic proverb about leadership: An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
In MELA, however, lions lead lions. Alpha lion Jim Crupi highlights the keys to building and running high performance teams. Organizations in today’s environment cannot accomplish their goals and objectives without successful teamwork.
Whatever you do, keep your eye on the ball!
Khalid and Tariq observe from the sidelines.
Jim’s slide illustrates how individuals can be woven into webs of mutual assistance and support. It looks like Dania has some more bonding to do.
The MELA jet set: Amer, Nader, Rita. Uncool people need not apply.
Red-Blue is a “Prisoner’s dilemma” type of game that demands stressful choices between trust and suspicion, collaboration and self-preservation, among two pairs of competing groups. Team A is worried that Team B will take advantage of it. It bids blue.
But in the adjoining room, Team B follows similar reasoning about Team A. It also votes blue. Result: both groups lose points.
And so it goes on. And on. And on, till the bitter end.
Meanwhile, Team C thought it had struck a deal with Team D to cooperate on bidding red. Except that, in the final round, Team D made a hard-headed calculation and bid blue to win the game.
Team D members visit Team C following the simulation. They are not exactly welcomed with open arms.
The postmortems continue. Abdullah (Team C) analyzes the exercise, and gives his Team D antagonists a piece of his mind.
Rita and Dania. Is it apparent from the body language who was Team C and who was Team D?
Ultimately, however, we are all on the same team, and it does not take long to re-establish good fellowship and high spirits among all. On the balcony outside the dinner room, the gang unites in taking a farewell photograph with Victor Antonio.
Nonetheless, friendship is not incompatible with savage competition, as MELA's daredevils descend on the nearby Go-Kart track. First cohort is ready, set,... 
Second cohort struts their stuff.
Mohammad and Andrew suit up. In view of his manful emergence from the minor accident he later suffered on the track (best wishes from all, Andrew, for speedy healing of your scraped hand) -- Andrew is hereby designated the evening's hero of the racetrack.
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