Entrepreneurs go against the grain to passionately achieve business goals. They take risks and hope to win big. At least that’s the stereotype: Think dot-coms, venture-capital investment firms and garage start-ups.

How, then, is it possible to be entrepreneurial as a CIO — particularly at a major, global enterprise? It’s a question we’re considering here at Smart Enterprise Exchange. My view is that you can be entrepreneurial in any organization, but you’ll be spinning your wheels unless you have a supportive corporate culture and executive backing.

In a January report entitled, “The Business Impact of the Entrepreneurial CIO,” Gartner claimed that the distinctive feature of the entrepreneurial CIO is “the proactive willingness and courage to take the high-level risks also undertaken by the business, to provide new or breakaway competitive advantages that translate directly into revenue, financial results and market share.”

Not very realistic in the current economy, is it? And how does that differ from all of the innovations and business alignment CIOs have focused on for the past decade?

I prefer the more balanced view put forth by Clark G. Gilbert and Matthew J. Eyring in a May Harvard Business Review article, “Beating the Odds When You Launch a New Venture.” To summarize, Gilbert, who is President and CEO of Deseret Digital Media, and Eyring, President of Innosight, a consulting and investment company, say that “despite the popular image of entrepreneurs as risk-loving cowboys, the reality is that great entrepreneurs don't take risks -- they manage them.” These leaders decide which risks to tackle first and which ones to set aside.

We think that Clif Triplett, who became Baker Hughes’ first CIO 18 months ago, is on the right track as an entrepreneurial CIO. Surely, he’s not as free as a solo venture capitalist to follow his dreams and invest in long-shot ideas; he works within business objectives and funding. At the same time, as he explains in our Professional Development article this month, he does have latitude to choose projects, establish partnerships and collaborate inside and outside the firm’s global borders — all with corporate buy-in. In return, he’s accountable to those same corporate executives to demonstrate ROI and generate business revenue.

We’d like to hear about other examples of entrepreneurship by CIOs. Do you operate IT as a business-within-the business — with your own P&L, staff and agenda? What are the risks if your ideas don’t deliver as expected? Is your corporate culture one that accepts failure as the price of innovation? Let us know here or begin a discussion with your peers.

Paula Klein
Editor and Community Manager
Smart Enterprise Exchange