1. A method of compensating for the effect of splay in flexible knife bands on transection length of a surgical instrument comprising a processor and a memory, the surgical instrument comprises stored in the memory characterization data representative of a relationship between articulation angle of an end effector and effective transection length distal of an articulation joint, the method comprising: accessing, by the processor, the characterization data from the memory of the surgical instrument; tracking, by the processor, the articulation angle of the end effector during use of the surgical instrument; and adjusting, by the processor, the target transection length by the surgical instrument based on the tracked articulation angle and the stored characterization data.