Jerry Weinberg's book, Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method (093263365X) describes a technique of gathering ideas like fieldstones until you have a collection with which you can build a book. Such a technique may not make you a William Faulkner or William Shakespeare, but it will enable anyone to become a journeyman author.
Fieldstones can come from anywhere. Here are some pointers to some I've come across:
[http://www.altisinc.com/Links/100_Rules.html One Hundred Rules for NASA Project Managers] by Jerry Madden includes such gems as
Rule #8: Running fast does not take the place of thinking for yourself. You must take time to smell the roses. For your work, you must take time to understand the consequences of your actions. and
Rule #82: Wrong decisions made early can be recovered from. Right decisions made late cannot correct them. and
Rule #96: Experience may be fine but testing is better. Knowing something will work never takes the place of proving that it will.
Also see this [http://appl.nasa.gov/ask/issues/14/practices/ask14_lessons_madden.html similar and related list].