Four Way Test

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The 4-Way Test

Of the things we think, say or do [Including the emails we forward - ed.] :

From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The 4-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. This 24-word code of ethics for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The 4-Way Test has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways.

One of the things many of us do is forward emails we receive from others. One way to discharge our our ethical responsibility as Rotarians is to apply the 4-Way Test to those emails. Many if not most of such emails, while sounding like the truth, upon investigation turn out to be any thing but the truth and indeed cannot pass the Fairness test, nor the Goodwill, Better Friendships and Beneficial tests. To see a Power Point slideshow on this subject click here.