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Rotary's "Four-Way Test." The test was primarily written for his bankrupt Club Aluminium Company in 1932. Herb
actually gave up his job in ‘packaged groceries...house to house, sales in order to join 250 other employees on-board
the so-called “sinking ship”.
Rotarian Herb retold the concept of the test in his own words: ”To win our way out of this situation, I reasoned we must
be morally and ethically strong. I knew that in right there was might. I felt that if we could get our employees to think
right, they would do right. We needed some sort of ethical yardstick that everybody in the company could memorize
and apply to what we thought, said, and did in our relations to others. So one morning I leaned over on my desk,
rested my head in my hands. In a few moments, I reached for a white paper card and wrote down that which had come
to me – in twenty-four words.”
Of the things we think, say or do:
When a company advertisement was placed before Herb, declaring his aluminium product as “the greatest cooking
ware in the world”, Herb simply stated “We can’t prove that”. The advertisement was rewritten simply stating the facts.
The most significant and practical example of the test in action concerned an incident involving a Printing contract. One
local printer won an order from Herb’s company beating all other tenders. The printer, however, soon realized that he
had under-estimated his quote by $500. Legally, Club Aluminium could ignore the printer’s appeals and compel him to
fulfil his side of the contract. Club Aluminium was deeply in debt and had acted in good faith but Herb asked his board
to reconsider and pay the printer the extra $500. Remember the second line of the test, he told his fellow directors, -
“is it fair to all concerned?”
Rotarian Taylor later served as President of the Rotary Club of Chicago, 1939-40 and Rotary International 1954-55.
He lived from 1893 to 1978. His "Four-Way Test" was a simple code of ethics and was adopted as part of Rotary
International in January of 1943. Those simple, but concise 24 words, have been translated into more than 100
languages and are used by organizations and individuals throughout the world.
actually gave up his job in ‘packaged groceries...house to house, sales in order to join 250 other employees on-board
the so-called “sinking ship”.
Rotarian Herb retold the concept of the test in his own words: ”To win our way out of this situation, I reasoned we must
be morally and ethically strong. I knew that in right there was might. I felt that if we could get our employees to think
right, they would do right. We needed some sort of ethical yardstick that everybody in the company could memorize
and apply to what we thought, said, and did in our relations to others. So one morning I leaned over on my desk,
rested my head in my hands. In a few moments, I reached for a white paper card and wrote down that which had come
to me – in twenty-four words.”
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?
When a company advertisement was placed before Herb, declaring his aluminium product as “the greatest cooking
ware in the world”, Herb simply stated “We can’t prove that”. The advertisement was rewritten simply stating the facts.
The most significant and practical example of the test in action concerned an incident involving a Printing contract. One
local printer won an order from Herb’s company beating all other tenders. The printer, however, soon realized that he
had under-estimated his quote by $500. Legally, Club Aluminium could ignore the printer’s appeals and compel him to
fulfil his side of the contract. Club Aluminium was deeply in debt and had acted in good faith but Herb asked his board
to reconsider and pay the printer the extra $500. Remember the second line of the test, he told his fellow directors, -
“is it fair to all concerned?”
Rotarian Taylor later served as President of the Rotary Club of Chicago, 1939-40 and Rotary International 1954-55.
He lived from 1893 to 1978. His "Four-Way Test" was a simple code of ethics and was adopted as part of Rotary
International in January of 1943. Those simple, but concise 24 words, have been translated into more than 100
languages and are used by organizations and individuals throughout the world.
