I believe you meant "competent" rather than "complacent" in the following...
They're expert beginners, and since they can accomplish the things they're asked to do at their jobs, they think they're complacent.
...but I absolutely agree. I have a piece of art hanging on the wall that I commissioned a friend of mine to draw. The words on the piece state "Before you can think outside the box, you must first realize... you're in a box!"
Considering all of the 8 and 9 out of 10 marks I've seen people give themselves on resumes when they turn out to be a 0 to 2 on the SQL Richter scale, including "DBAs" and "developers" alike, I'd have to say that I agree with the assessment that they just don't know what they don't know or, worse yet, they don't actually care. So what separates those people from many of the good folks we see answering questions on forums like SSC? That, in and of itself, is the answer and a lot of people simply won't take the time because "they're not getting paid for it".
I also blame technology. I asked one fellow some questions about backups and after answering "Don't Know" to all of the questions his question to me was "I've always used {insert name of some backup software} to do my backups. Why do I need to know anything about native SQL Backups or the BACKUP command?" With others, questions like "What is a Clustered Index" are also answered with "Don't Know" and, when I explain it, I get asked "Why would a DBA or Developer need to know that?". My step kid's are all grown up so I can't confirm it but rumor has it that they're not teaching multiplication tables in school anymore. Guess that explains the worst of it all.
Anything I could say on the subject after that would be perceived as a rant about complacency, a lack of intellectual curiosity, or, perhaps, a matter of arrogance, so I'll quit while I'm ahead. 🙂
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.