The practice of managing “metacompetencies” from the perspective of systems theory

The author touches upon issues related to the management of metacompetencies from the perspective of systems theory and organizational theory. The article proposes a comparison of the concepts of “ complicatedness”      and “     complexity” for using “hard” and “soft”      skills in new realities at a time of global transformations when it is necessary to offer alternatives for managing competencies in a multipolar setting. Getting metacompetencies right is of strategic importance. The author demonstrates this connection using the interaction of “     thinking tools”      as an organization manages seven aspects of social systems, which in successful companies are handled by top management and not by human resources (HR) departments. The material is based on actual methods used in transformation projects of international and Russian companies in the context of international business. In the end of the paper, an in-house developed technology for systems-based management of six groups of metacompetencies is presented.

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