Most companies say they care about customers, employees, and shareholders. Johnson & Johnson wrote down which comes first, and in what order, back in 1943. The J&J Credo, written by chairman Robert Wood Johnson in 1943, lists four responsibilities in order^[1]. First come the patients, doctors, and nurses, and everyone else who uses J&J products. Second, the employees. Third, the communities where the company operates. Last, the shareholders who own the stock. Johnson wrote it the year before J&J went public in 1944^[2], partly to make sure that selling shares wouldn't turn the company into a shareholders-only operation. When a J&J leader faces a hard choice, say, a product that works but doesn't meet the company's quality standard, the Credo gives them an order to reason through. Protecting patients and customers comes before protecting this quarter's profit. The Credo gives leaders a clear starting point for whose interests to weigh first.