What is causing the waves to ripple?

Three years ago several of my high school girlfriends from the Andrew Jackson Class of '63 had the opportunity to cruise on a friend's yacht. 

We were on our way to the Bahamas excited to be out on this beautiful boat - looking forward to a week of fun at their home on the island. Everything was going great and while we were told it would be smoother to stay on the middle deck; we "had" to all go up with the captain so we could see where we were going.

We had driven down the night before and among all our discussions some said they never get sea sick. You guessed it, even with medication it hit. The first one was taken outside to the back deck where she was sick until we got there. The second one went below shortly after and was sick but only made it to the next deck throwing up in a pan - which was then passed on to the back deck, washed out and sent back in to be filled again.

While all of this is going on those of us with the captain were oblivious to the fact that so much was going on below. We were completed lost in the beauty of the sun and the surrounding water until one of the others decided she would go check on the sick. As she stands the boat bounces and she flies back to hit her head on the captains chair and falls at my feet. I slide off my seat and put my hand under her head as I see the blood. The captain looks at it calls downstairs for ice and we get the reply' "Can't do it now, we have one throwing up in here and one on the back deck." So the captain puts on the auto pilot while he gets the ice. He eventually takes her down where she can lie down and she is fine just a small cut which was later glued together.

I decided some time later I would venture down and check on the others. They were all fine, but still sick so I sat on the back deck with one who was sick and the owner. I sat in wonder as I watched the water changing colors in various shades of beautiful blues and turquoise with big white waves rolling out. What a sight! I loved it as the captain increased the speed making the waves wider. (Actually, the speed was increased to get there sooner since we had the two who were so sea sick.) 

I came across this picture today and while I was looking at the beauty, I  was reminded of the other things going on around us at the time. We never know the whole story of what is behind a picture unless we are there. 

What caused the ripple of these waves? I know because I saw it personally and just looking at the picture you would know the ripple is because of the speed of the boat. The ripple started out small and got much larger than this.The story is also true with your hotel data.

When you look at your data, do you understand the whole picture or do you just see what is in front of you? Do you know the true cause of why you are up in ADR and down in RevPAR, etc? You can have all the answers by being there in your data every day and seeing the real picture of your ups and downs. I knew we had two sick friends and one with a cut on her head but I was upstairs in a cabin. I had to go outside to actually see the whole picture of what was happening.

Just like I was there for this picture, I have been where you are in Revenue Management and I know you need to see the whole picture. We can show you where the ripples are coming from by looking at your data. You have to pull in your data day by day and focus on the future by also seeing the past and present! Look for any signs of warning that could create that ripple effect. Sometimes you may need to rock the boat!