The
Four-Way Test of the Things We Think, Say or Do
-
Is
it the TRUTH?
-
Is
it FAIR to all Concerned?
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Will
it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
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Will
it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Story
of the Four-Way Test
More
than 60 years ago, in the midst of the Great Depression, a
U.S. Rotarian devised a simple, four-part ethical guideline
that helped him rescue a beleaguered business. The statement
and the principles it embodied also helped many others find
their own ethical compass. Soon embraced and popularized by
Rotary International, The Four-Way Test today stands as one
of the organization's hallmarks. It may very well be one of
the most famous statements of our century.
Herbert
J. Taylor, author of the Test, was a mover, a doer, a
consummate salesman and a leader of men. He was a man of
action, faith and high moral principle. Born in Michigan in
1893, he worked his way through Northwestern University in
Evanston, Illinois. After graduation, Herb went to France on
a mission for the YMCA and the British Army welfare service
and served in the U.S. Navy Supply Corps in World War I. In
1919, he married Gloria Forbrich, and the couple set up
housekeeping in Oklahoma, where he worked for the Sinclair
Oil Company. After a year, he resigned and went into
insurance, real estate and oil lease brokerage.
With
some prosperous years behind him, Herb returned to Chicago,
Illinois, in 1925 and began a swift rise within the Jewel
Tea Company. He soon joined the Rotary Club of Chicago. In
line for the presidency of Jewel in 1932, Herb was asked to
help revive the near-bankrupt Club Aluminum Company of
Chicago. The cookware manufacturing company owed $400,000
more than its total assets and was barely staying afloat.
Herb responded to the challenge and decided to cast his lot
with this troubled firm. He resigned from Jewel Tea, taking
an 80 percent pay cut to become president of Club Aluminum.
He even invested $6,100 of his own money in the company to
give it some operating capital.
Looking
for a way to resuscitate the company and caught in the
Depression's doldrums, Herb, deeply religious, prayed for
inspiration to craft a short measuring stick of ethics for
the staff to use.
As he
thought about an ethical guideline for the company, he first
wrote a statement of about 100 words but decided that it was
too long. He continued to work, reducing it to seven points.
In fact, The Four-Way Test was once a Seven-Way Test. It was
still too long, and he finally reduced it to the four
searching questions that compose the Test today.
Next,
he checked the statement with his four department heads: a
Roman Catholic, a Christian Scientist, an Orthodox Jew and a
Presbyterian. They all agreed that the Test's principles not
only coincided with their religious beliefs, but also
provided an exemplary guide for personal and business life.
And
so, "The 4-Way Test of the Things We Think, Say or Do"
was born. |
