Mount Rushmore

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Exchange individual perspectives and personal influences through a shared four-item roster.

Use it when: Use as an icebreaker or warm-up at the start of a workshop, training session, or retreat.

Skip it when: Skip when the agenda requires urgent tactical problem solving, when participants require strict anonymity, or when monument metaphors create friction.

Group arrangement: Solo selection followed by small groups of 3 to 5 people.

Timing: 15 minutes suggested by UWT based on the 5 to 15 minute range in the source record.

Materials and tools

• One index card or sheet of scratch paper per person
• One pen or pencil per person
• A visible countdown timer

Before participants arrive

1. Select a theme in advance (such as influential mentors, favorite authors, career milestones, or pop-culture icons).
2. Arrange seating into clusters of 3 to 5 people.
3. Distribute one card and one pen to each seat.

Say this to open

Mount Rushmore displays four carved faces. Today, choose your personal four for our theme: [insert chosen theme]. Take two minutes on your own to write four names on your card and note why each one made your list. You can pick well-known figures, personal contacts, or fictional characters.

How to run it

1. Introduce theme and solo reflection 3 minutes

   Read the opening script with the chosen theme. Give an explicit neutral example: for an influential mentors theme, someone might list a high school coach, a former manager, an author, and an inventor. Participants write four names silently on their card. Anyone who prefers not to disclose personal history can list fictional or historical figures, or simply observe.

2. Share in small groups 7 minutes

   Form groups of 3 to 5. If counts leave an odd number, groups of 5 are welcome. Each person takes up to 60 to 80 seconds to read their four choices and explain their reasoning. Group members listen without interrupting. Remind everyone that passing or naming fewer than four is completely fine.

3. Identify group patterns 2 minutes

   In their small groups, participants spend two minutes discussing overlaps, contrasting criteria, or common qualities among the figures chosen. Each group identifies a standout pattern in their conversation.

4. Whole-room wrap-up and debrief 3 minutes

   Reconvene the full room. Invite volunteers from two or three tables to share a standout pattern from their conversation. Close by asking one debrief question from the list for two quick responses.

Debrief questions

• What criteria did you use to narrow your list to only four spots?
• What shared themes or values appeared across different people's selections?
• How easy or difficult was it to leave influential candidates off the monument?

Finished output: Completed individual cards listing four figures and verbal patterns identified by small groups.

Remote

Display the prompt on a slide. Give participants 2 minutes to write four names privately on scratch paper. Assign breakout rooms of 3 to 5 participants for 7 minutes to share orally. Reconvene in the main room. Invite volunteers from two or three rooms to unmute or post a pattern in the text chat, then pose one debrief question to the group.

Hybrid

Form small groups that are either all-remote or all-in-person whenever numbers allow. If a mixed group is necessary, pair remote participants with an in-person group that has an open laptop screen, dedicated webcam, and external speaker-mic placed in the center of the table. Have the in-person group rotate the laptop to face each speaker in turn, and call on the remote participant first for both sharing and pattern discussion. Remote participants write on their own paper or cards just like in-person participants.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may sketch symbols, write initials, or list fictional characters instead of actual living people.
• Anyone may pass entirely or listen without reading their list, with no explanation required.

If the session gets stuck

A participant struggles to think of four figures for the prompt.

Invite them to select one or two names, or expand their criteria to include fictional characters, concepts, or historical names.

One person talks too long during small group sharing, cutting off others.

Call time at the halfway mark, reminding groups to move to the next person so all members get an equal turn.

Terms used here

• Mt. Rushmore: A common cultural metaphor referring to a definitive top-four list in any specific category.