The 4 way test was created in 1932 by a Rotarian by the name of Herbert J. Taylor. During the 1930s he was asked to help save the Club Aluminum Products distribution company from bankruptcy. His business recovery plan was based on changing the ethical climate of the workplace. He came up with these 24 words to serve as the guide, motivation and backbone for employees to follow when it came to business practices and relations with customers, fellow employees and outside dealers. The company survived and it was credited mainly to this simple but profound philosophy. He had in fact changed the ethical climate of the business by adopting a simple but meaning creed.
Rotary later adopted it in 1943 as The 4-Way Test. Rotarians recite it at club meetings and it has since been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of different ways around the globe.
The 4 -Way Test asks the following four questions:
Of the things we think, say or do:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
This is a nonpartisan, nonsectarian ethical guide that Rotarians utilize for both their personal and professional relationships. It has never changed all these years and it remains a central part of the permanent Rotary structure. These 24 words are held as the standard by which all behavior should be measured and how people should attempt to live out their lives.
How do you apply The 4-Way Test in your daily lives?
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