"There are three things in life that people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire, and a Zamboni clearing the ice." Charlie Brown

I love hockey. I’m an unapologetic Colorado Avalanche fan. I would rather take a hard body check to the glass than back down from cheering them on.

And, the whole hockey experience would be less if I didn’t stay and watch the Zamboni smooth out the ice between periods.

They aren’t sleek looking. They are slow. They are, as Seth Godin observed, “Like an elephant for ice hockey.”

The Zamboni was invented by Frank J. Zamboni in 1949. A refrigeration engineer, Zamboni had created an ice rink in Paramount, California, in 1940. However, maintaining smooth ice was labor-intensive, requiring a team to scrape, wash, and dry the surface manually. Seeking a more efficient solution, Zamboni modified a vehicle to shave the ice, collect shavings, and apply fresh water in a single pass, ultimately creating the first Zamboni machine, the "Model A."

The invention revolutionized ice resurfacing, quickly gaining popularity among skating rinks and hockey arenas worldwide. In 1954, the Boston Bruins became the first NHL team to use a Zamboni, solidifying its role in professional hockey. The Zamboni is now as entertaining as it is efficient.

Your business needs a Zamboni. 

Your ice gets rough. Business as usual is dangerous unless you smooth some things out. That brings us to your CIO and CTO.

When To Bring Out The Zamboni In Your Business

Misalignment happens. Ask my chiropractor. And, she will tell you, that alignment is necessary to restore what your body needs to heal itself. 

Your business and leadership is no different. You lead a phenomenal organization that, when aligned, is healthy, productive and profitable. But when misaligned, fosters dysfunction, falls behind in output, and is imbalanced in costs versus revenue.

Alignment is everything. 

Especially between business and technology.

In my work with CEOs and their executive technology leaders, I’ve discovered five common points of misalignment:

Short Term Budget vs Long Term ROI

Short-term budget constraints often demand immediate cost-cutting or quick revenue boosts, which can impede investments that promise future growth.This can lead to underfunding strategic projects or forgoing innovation, risking competitive advantage. Focusing solely on long-term ROI may strain current finances and hinder day-to-day operations. 

As a CEO, you’ve called for both at one time or another: immediacy or innovation. As has your tech leaders. The problem arises when you call for one and tech is advocating for the other.

Legacy Tech vs. Tech Innovation

Legacy tech can limit scalability, agility, and integration with modern solutions, potentially increasing maintenance costs and slowing adaptation to market changes. 

Tech innovation brings new efficiencies, flexibility, and competitive advantages but may require significant upfront investment, retraining, and careful integration to avoid disruptions. 

Relying solely on legacy systems may prevent a business from leveraging data-driven insights and modern capabilities, while pursuing innovation too aggressively could risk stability. 

Business Language vs Tech Language

Ignorance. Assumptions. Both chew up ice and leave your bench in the penalty box.

Your tech leaders have historically been unaware of business needs and uninformed on business matters. Your business leaders assume they understand technology because they read the headlines and can prompt an LLM.

Business language focuses on outcomes, goals, and value—emphasizing profitability, growth, and market impact. Technology language is detail-oriented, describing systems, processes, and technical specifications.

Business is from Mars and Technology is from Venus. Different ways of thinking. Different planets altogether.

Calculated Risk vs Risk Averse

Calculated risks pursue innovation, potentially yielding competitive advantage, improved efficiency, or new revenue streams.

Risk aversion can stifle agility, limit adaptability, and lead to missed opportunities, especially in fast-evolving tech landscapes.

One is not necessarily yours. You calculate and you caution. The problem is when you and your tech leadership are not calculating together or exercising the same caution.

Current Skill vs. Capacity Skill

Capacity is future driven. Current skills in technology employees may not be able to keep up and execute for innovation. 

Tension develops between upskilling, outsourcing, or onboarding. CEOs and tech leaders find themselves in a face-off, not only affecting who and what is needed to work, but how they will work (the unending remote/hybrid debate).

Driving Your Zamboni

Each of these are future articles, but food for thought for now:

Crucial conversations that align stay focused on vision and values.

Resolution is integrated. The five misalignments rarely stand alone. The whole rink gets fresh ice.

A third party facilitator serves you well. I’ve not seen executives or players drive the Zamboni in-between periods. 

Hockey is a fast game. So is your business. The intermissions are timed. Not a minute more or less. The Zamboni is a deliberate process.

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