The (Real) Untold Story of The Office | Sidebean

0:00So the other day I finished watching this documentary I found on TV and I was completely blown away because how could a company this chaotic survive? It was so fascinating that I decided to actually drive there, to travel to Scranton to understand what happened. But nobody around town seemed to know about this company. I'm looking for the Dunder Mifflin headquarters. So we of course decided to do our own research and we found the missing footage. We found the story of Dunder Mifflin. These cameras picked up an American company culture at its finest. But they were there for a much darker reason and it's not murder, even if there was a killer on the loose. So let's dive into the fantastic story of this Dunder Mifflin company, in this episode of Company Forensics. When a film crew entered the Scranton branch of Dunder and Mifflin, it planned to remain there for a few days. And the excuse was to capture corporate life in this small office,

1:01but they remained there for nine whole years. And this guy was a big reason why. People say I am the best boss. Describing Michael Scott is a challenge. I can think of eccentric, but even that word comes up short. The Scranton native had a tough childhood that he has openly referred to as lonely. The struggle at school, and more than one lonely birthday party. You grow up. I want to be married and have a hundred kids so I can have a hundred friends and known to say no to being my friend. Unfortunately, it didn't get easier for him once he graduated from high school. He planned to go to college, but lost all of his tuition money in a pyramid scheme. That's how in the early 90s, he landed a job at Dunder Mifflin. And he made him name for himself in this company. And he became someone of a local celebrity. Local businessman, led to college tuition to third graders. Michael Scott made strides at Dunder Mifflin. This company is an institution in the paper industry.

2:04So in 1949, Robert Dunder and Robert Mifflin founded the company. Initially, it sold brackets, but eventually moved to paper as paper was of course this booming industry. And the company would dominate the Northeast. It opened branches in Buffalo and Rochester, Utica, Stanford, Albany, Camden, Nashra and of course, Scranton. And even in the face of competition, the company was thriving. And it is of course safe to say that both Michael Scott and Dunder Mifflin evolved side by side. After all, he to the company to Dunder Mifflin, Michael Scott was much more than just a salesman. He was the epitome of company culture for better or worse. His methods pushed the boundaries of right and wrong. And he was a man. Beautiful. So HR personnel hated working with him and he hated working with them. No, God. No, God, please no, no, no. No, no. HR by the way is a whole topic here, but bear with us.

3:05This company has a very complicated story. But back to Michael Scott, he was just good at selling paper. And that's how he reached the regional manager position. The bad thing was that he wasn't the best at social skills. Perhaps that's why the film crew ended up loving him. I mean, that's not why. But it helped. The documentary crew arrived in 2005 to learn about American corporate culture in this small company. So this is my kingdom. Far as you I can say. It was all a lie. And the staff wouldn't end up a victim of this behavioral social experiment. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. When those cameras entered the premises, they showed that from the start, times were tense. OK, since the last meeting, Ellen and the board have decided that we can't justify a Scrandon branch and a Stanford branch. The camera also showed us other staff members who would become mainstays in the documentary. Meanwhile, Michael Scott tried to be, tried everything to be likable as a boss. Problem was that he would mess a big time

4:05with every good thing that he did. Time. My cookie cookie. Time. So every time he screwed up, upper management had to run and try and fix things. After Michael Scott outed Oscar Martinez, upper management acted fast. Jan Levinson bribed Oscar with a car and paid vacations just to avoid a lawsuit. And just this is an example of how Dunder Mifflin ran things. And it was a recipe for disaster. Dunder Mifflin found itself trying to contain the losses so it closed down several branches and joined teams. And one of these, one of the causes of these mergers was Andy Burtonart, who started out as a salesman then would eventually climb up the ranks in the company. Hey everybody, it's causing time. You don't gotta go home, but you can't stay here. And this of course only added to the tension and even veteran staff left. Salesman Dwight Shrewd, one of the best left for staples. I have decided to step down from my post and spend more time with my family. I do not fear the unknown. He would have remained there if it hadn't been for Michael Scott

5:06and his desperate act to convince him. And that was probably the root of Dunder Mifflin's problem. The company was so complex and so bureaucratic that it made itself inefficient plus it allowed these things to happen and not have anyone take legal action. Very blessed. God. God. Still, it wasn't all that bad. Dunder Mifflin had in its hands the tools that could have revolutionized the industry. 2008, for example, under the leadership of Ryan Howard, the company launched Dunder Mifflin Infinity. You should call it Dunder Mifflin Infinity. Push the words together. And Dunder Mifflin Infinity would streamline any sales platform and become the B2B that we know today. Not only that, it would have a social network that would allow customers to connect and expand their business. Think of something like eBay to the power of 10. They even had a virtual event talk about being ahead of the times. My former boss, Michael Scott. Hey, I just think you should know that one of my salesmen beat your stupid computer. And with this, Dunder Mifflin would have the capacity

6:07to destroy the big chains. So this was the future. But then again, this is Dunder Mifflin. Nobody was using the infinity platform. Why am I being forced to come in tomorrow and pretend that a website made sales that I made? So the company tried and declared all conventional sales through this online channel, which effectively doubled the sales metric. Ryan's big project was the website, which wasn't doing so well. So Ryan, to give the impression of sales, recorded them twice, once his office sales and once his website sales, which is what we refer to in the business as misleading the shareholders. Another good term is fraud. This should not come as a surprise. After all, it's Dunder Mifflin. Even the most chaotic of companies should be able to manage HR. It seemed like this company just couldn't. HR at Dunder Mifflin was chaos. There were pranks and fights and fares. And we couldn't even list all the affairs and all the hookups. It would just be endless.

7:08And yes, of course, working with Michael Scott wouldn't be easy. But then again, the HR guy wasn't that normal. Honestly, he was a bit creepy. And once there was a fire drill, and sure, these are valuable and necessary in any company. But when people don't pay attention to your slides because they're not built on a slide beam. Last week I gave a fire safety talk. And nobody paid any attention. It's my own fault for using PowerPoint. PowerPoint is boring. Then this stuff happens. Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Get out of my way! Help! And this little incident even caused a heart attack. But Michael Scott let it go. It is safe to say that Michael Scott had a lot of leeways. But things would change when the new boss Charles Murner came in.

8:11I am aware of the effect I have on women. It was oil and water from the start. Murner was almost a dictator. And this, of course, didn't work well with Michael Scott. So the weird, clownish manager reached a bowling point and ended up leaving the company. I don't even care because I've got nothing to lose. Oh my god! Oh god! No! All right. It's not worth it. He created his own newest starter, the Michael Scott paper company. But it ran from the same building and even tried to steal some of the other company's clients. The company made some sales, but soon ran into financial problems. So the corporate heads had done a rent from decided to buy it out to prevent any further chaos. We are prepared to make you a very generous offer. And we are prepared to reject that offer. Michael Scott negotiated jobs and benefits for Ryan and for Pam. So this was a brilliant acquisition move. But the times ahead were tough. Because let's face it, paper is finite. So Dundermifland faced competition from staples and a dwindling market. The Camden, Yonkers and Buffalo branches all closed out. And then the rumors started circulating that Dundermifland was running out of cash.

9:13By late 2009, printing giant Sabre had acquired Dundermifland. And CEO Joe Bennett fired upper management and demoted Michael Scott to his sales job next to Jim Halpert. So he was back to square one. He was frustrated and it showed. What do you do? I'm going to learn to be more professional look. This landed him in actual counseling sessions with none other than Toby. But it wasn't only Michael Scott. Dundermifland was in complete chaos so much so that by 2011, Michael Scott had had enough. And that is saying a lot. After starting an office relationship with Holly Flags, they married and he left. You're leaving today, right? Maybe. Plus Sabre just wasn't doing a good job. After Scott's departure, a flurry of eccentric managers and CEOs took over. With leadership like this, it's no wonder that Sabre was also in trouble. Bennett had to sell the company and this meant a massive shakeup. But there was one move that for a short while made sense. If you remember the first part of the video, we mentioned Andy Bernard.

10:14Under the guidance of California, he ended up as the regional manager and the company actually got some things done. And Bernard's stay in Dundermifland would end later as he pursued a career in entertainment. And this of course led to a big name, a company veteran, earning a big role. Doudshoot became the regional manager and it seemed then that the company was changing course. In about 2013, the camera crew understood that it was time to end this documentary. Enough was enough when it came to corporate life. But our research revealed the harsh truth behind their presence. The reason would remain a secret within the walls of Dundermifland for almost a decade. And it all happened in 2004, months before the crews came in. And it's all about Tom Peats. We need better outreach for employees fighting depression. Okay, all right, enough of the jokes. Nobody in here is suffering from depression. That sounds serious, my god. Oh, okay, well, yeah, who wrote it? Tom. Tom. Then it is a joke because there is nobody in here named Tom. Tom? He worked in a county up until about a year ago.

11:19The film crew wanted to document how the company had managed to handle this. And it seemed his death is almost forgotten. Oh, that guy was weird. All right, next season. Next season. But then, after all, this story even Dundermifland would perish as the giant staples eventually bought the mount. Though the name still lives, this is nothing but a shell of what this company used to be. Guys, what, what up? What a cool story. I can't believe I had never never heard it before. I think there's so much we can learn from these guys. Like the way they handle the culture, the way they handle diversity. I really think that there's a lot to learn from this guy. I don't get how, I don't get how something this big gets forgotten. That's what she said.