This is an account of practice. It explores the meeting point between action learning and action research, as a way of doing capacity building in organisational development (OD) in the NHS in the UK. The authors were part of a short cooperative inquiry (Heron, J. 1996. "Co-operative Inquiry: Research into the Human Condition." London: Sage). The research found that it was vital in such challenging environments as the current NHS scene to have a "safe place to stay sharp." They outline here what the qualities of such a space might be for themselves, and, following the notion of parallel process (what we experience may be symptomatic of the wider system), for other OD practitioners in the NHS.