This sounds mostly like the first chapter, which was the bit I enjoyed the most. That was about automated testing, and a whole book about that might've been quite useful.
Automated testing is great, but you can apply the core idea to code without automated tests. The difference is that you have to be even more mechanical and cautious.
In addition to the principles about refactoring, reading a few of the examples helped to drive in how methodical it was.
In addition to the principles about refactoring, reading a few of the examples helped to drive in how methodical it was.