IS Honesty the best policy?

Gossip time!
Here’s a case study of two people I’ve just met. Both are entrepreneurs, and both are running businesses that are relatively successful.

Relatively successful because each has its niche, and each is generating an additional income for its owner.

Now, person 1 (no means of identification here) is a go-getter. Let’s call him/her Alex (A). Now A has started a company that has generated as much income as Al makes in a year. The company has grown at least 20% in under a year (even in a global slump). But A’s boss has no idea about what’s going on. As far as A’s boss is concerned, A is very process oriented and isn’t much of a risk taker. A’s good at procedural work, but doesn’t bring out too much of a thinking cap.

Person 2 is also a go-getter. Let’s call him/her Blaise (B).Blaise started a company that’ also doing really well, and has, due to stroke of luck, some great publicity that will do wonders for the company’s ability to close deals. Blaise’s boss knows about B’s business, and is as supportive as an employer can be of an employee working for him/herself part time.

Now, here’s the catch. Alex’s business is taking off. So is Blaise’s. Alex is at a further stage than Blaise as far as the business is concerned, so Alex may need to start taking some time off work. But Blaise isn’t there yet. Or so B says.

Both will inevitably reach crunch time…where it’s no longer possible for them to prevent their businesses from interfering from work.

Question is…who will be better off? Alex – who will take a few days off here and there but will continue to remain a loyal employee until the day that loyalty shifts to A’s own business? Or Blaise – whose boss already knows about the business, but may not like the fact that it’s becoming more important to B, because ‘good help is hard to find’?

What do you think?

The way I see it, Alex will be successful for as long as A’s not caught lying. Blaise’s business may be stifled by B’s employer, especially if B is core staff. Would it be better for B not to have said anything? Should Alex tell the boss about A’s company?

(I think I’ve done a good job so far of hiding genders.)

But in the end, whose method works best – both ideally and in the real world.

What do YOU think?

Let’s hear it