THIS MAN CALLED DIAN GOMES
Nandasiri Wanninayaka wanni@horizonlanka.org

Meeting Mr. Dian Gomes in year 2000 was a turning point in my life. Having seen Horizon Journal at Mr. Donald’s house, Dian wanted to help Horizon by donating few computers. But later he came up with an additional offer of offering me a job opportunity at Slimline Pvt. Ltd, a renowned garment factory which hails from Pannala, Sri Lanka and world famous for its productivity and special management strategies. This offer first let me in a dilemma as I was then working as an English and computer teacher at a government high school. I thought a lot and read few business magazines and found more information about this man called Dian Gomes and thought of joining Slimline just after my US tour by giving up all the privileges which I was entitled to get from the government job.

Rather than waiting to be 55 years old to get a government pension, I thought of taking a risk by joining Slimline, a private firm, with the high intention of getting first hand experiences of the efficiency that the private firms boast of. I had heard of bitter exploitation at private firms and had doubts if I could pay attention to Horizon as well while working for Slimline.
Mr. Dian Gomes
My doubts were cleared at the first meeting and I was given free unlimited access to the Internet and was allowed to use the resource after working hours. The IT Department at Slimline was very supportive in my Horizon related work and Horizon received few more used computers as well.

The publicity Horizon got through LankaPage in April 2002 led a lot of Sri Lankan expatriates to visit Horizon School and Dian was generous to grant me one year’s leave in July 2002 enabling me to work full time for Horizon. I made use of the opportunity and trained new teachers for Horizon and taught the kids IT and English and now the kids can do their own web sites and continue education without much hassle.
Dian, the Motivator
Motivating a nation that is going backward due to all the ills of a typical third world country is not an easy task. But Dian has the extraordinary ability to do that. I ensured I attend all his seminars held at Slimline to learn his skills. Aligning young men and women in Slimline to a common goal was done in a way that the young people there felt that they are working at their own company and they loved the company so much that no one wanted to go home after working hours. Each stayed an hour or two voluntarily and did some extra work for the company. When the company was on the verge of collapse last year due to a shortage of quotas for its production, I was stunned the way the aspired young people rallied around Dian and help cut extra expenditure and made a miraculous survival. Of course Dian does exploit people, but in a sweet way. This sweet exploitation is done by giving the young people more opportunities to grow in Slimline to become future leaders and one never feels that they are working for someone else’s organization. The kind of tactics Dian uses to convince people the importance of efficiency do not confine to only preaching. He sets examples and leads from the front be it serious official work or fun activities. You can see a smile on his face even when he makes an extremely risky decision.

To my understanding, world has changed because of the people who risked. Not the ones who only adhered to be conventional.