I think a similar way though. A lot of the time a song sounds really well put together with subtle movements from chord to chord, so that it flows. Then, of course, are times when you want the chord to be as different as possible, but I agree with that idea. I often come up with chord progressions by getting a four note chord, moving each note chromatically up or down until I am in a completely new shape, then figure out how each movement can be played as a different chord.
Here's a bit of a progression I was working on earlier..
G|--8--8--8--7
A|--6--6--5--5
D|--------------
E|--7--8--8--8

As you can see, move each note at a time. Then, these notes imply these basic chords (among others):
Gmin, G, Cmin, Csus2. It's a sort of Radioheady progression, which sounds pretty cool with strings, etc.