Putting on the Pressure

MELA 5, DAY THREE: 8 MARCH 2014

The morning's speaker, Michael Kouly (President, Cambridge Institute for Global Leadership) is dazzled by the blaze of talent emanating from the MELA 5 participants.

Arwa El Baitam is a friendly, outgoing sort of person. She engages our speaker in some jolly (although, it must be admitted, rather one-sided) banter.

Monah reports that her blood pressure is currently hovering around 180/100 and rising. That got Mansoor's attention.

Samira Al Hawamleh contributes forcefully to the discussion.

When a system is stuck, it is the task of the leader to get it unstuck. It's dirty work, but somebody has to make the attempt. Samer rolls up his sleeves.

Mohamed Saeed pitches in. This is an uphill struggle. At least Michael has been inveigled into removing his dark glasses. That may be considered to be progress of sorts.

The morning session, because it was conducted under conditions of pressure and stress, has yielded a treasure-trove of data about our attitudes towards authority and default positions as leaders.

Qatari pow-wow: Ali Al Ali, Ghareb and Mansoor.

The ballroom set-up is rearranged after lunch for Star Power. The game simulates the behavior of individuals and groups within a system that distributes power unequally.

Jim Crupi repeats the rules of the game. Repeats the rules of the game. Repeats the rules of the game.

We will trade chips to establish our positions within a hierarchical arrangement of three groups: squares, circles and triangles. Sounds fun, right, Samira? Game on!

Mohannad approaches to initiate a trade. Why the palpable hesitation, Abdelrahman? You know you can trust Mohannad!

Arwa and Mohammed re-check the value of the chips on the big scoreboard.

What has Majid Al Rawahi got in his hand? Salah would give much to know. (Actually, that kind of is Majid's idea....)

You can hear the wheels turning as Najla Al Riyami calculates her options. Siham can wait. Siham has all the time in the world.

"Give me, give me, give me! It is blue and shiny! Give me!"

Round Two of trading – and it's getting pretty hot and heavy out there on the trading floor.

The analytical brains of Mohamed and Suha crunch the numbers.

Let's simply put it this way: if this were not a simulation but the real world, and Noor and Heba were traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street would be a much happier and less pressured place.

The squares are the top dogs. They make the rules. Nidal announces a new change to the playbook that will have the effect of, ummm, favoring the squares forthwith and henceforth in perpetuity.

The triangles are at the bottom of the heap. Omar Nelson Mandela Kafood leads the resistance.

But in the final analysis, MELA is a peaceful world where riot police and water cannons have no place. A harmonious world of friends and peers, who prefer to settle their differences over a shared dinner and aromatic shisha under the Doha skies.