16/11/2025
The
The Measure of Truth: The Story of Herbert J. Taylor’s Four-Way Test
During the dark days of the Great Depression, a young business executive named Herbert J. Taylor faced an enormous challenge. He had just been asked to save a nearly bankrupt company, the Club Aluminum Products Company of Chicago. Debts were mounting, morale was low, and employees had lost faith that the business—or their jobs—would survive.
Taylor believed that the company’s recovery couldn’t depend only on sales or marketing—it had to begin with integrity. Sitting alone in his office one evening, he opened his Bible, prayed for guidance, and began to write a simple code of ethics. He wanted a test of conduct—something brief, universal, and easy for every employee to remember and live by.
After several drafts, he wrote these 24 timeless words:
“Of the things we think, say or do:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”
He shared the Four-Way Test with his team, urging them to use it in every decision—whether speaking to customers, dealing with suppliers, or working with one another. Slowly, something remarkable happened. The company began to rebuild its reputation. Trust grew. Employees took pride in their honesty. Customers returned.
Within a few years, the struggling company became profitable again—not because of clever marketing, but because its people chose integrity over expedience.
Years later, when Herbert Taylor became a leader in Rotary International, he offered the Four-Way Test to Rotary as a gift—believing that what had saved one company could help guide the world.
And so, a simple set of 24 words—born from a moment of crisis and faith—became a global beacon for truth, fairness, goodwill, and mutual benefit.
