Rotarians and others offer their perspective on the venerable ethical yardstick. The Test belongs where it originated: In the business world. A test for everything we think, say, or do-how ambitious! Such a tool must surely be the work of a prophet or great spiritual  leader or of some high-minded R.I. committee that meets in Evanston. Instead, the 4-Way Test was a tiny, unassuming spin-off of what were perhaps the most difficult years in U.S. economic history: the Great Depression.

Herbert Taylor as in 1932, an executive with a large and relatively secure company in whose employ he might well have ridden out the storms of the late 1920s and early 30s. He chose, however, to purchase a small kitchen-utensil manufacturing company and take chances in an already crowded industry with a market that would support only the very best.

From the outset, Taylor recognized that the smallest mistake would probably be his last. There was no room for bad calls or poor judgment. He needed an advantage that could take him beyond a quality product, hard work, and his share of good luck.

After considerable thought and consulting with his employees, he proposed a relatively simple four-part test, a filter through which he and his colleagues could pass every question and decision they would four fundamental, doing-business questions. Simply and succinctly, they addressed the issues of truth and fairness, of building friendships and accruing benefits.

Whatever else may have been involved in the ways of products and practices, the combination worked. The company-and its chief executive survived and flourished. Indeed, Herbert Taylor would become, some 20 years later, president of Rotary International, and in the course of his year of service would give to Rotary the copyright to his "test".

Today, The 4-Way Test is as much a part of Rotary as is the luncheon of the gear-wheel emblem. Its blue-and-gold banner hangs in the Rotary club meeting rooms around the world.